UK oil giant BP has revived the sale of its Alaskan assets after failing to sell them to US oil and gas company Apache in July, according to a report in the Financial Times.
Houston-based Apache is said to be still in the running to purchase the assets, while US-based Occidental Petroleum is also seen as a potential bidder.
The FT said it is not yet known whether BP is planning to sell its entire 26 per cent stake in the giant Prudhoe Bay oilfield, which includes the operating rights.
BP had been negotiating with Apache to sell half of its Prudhoe Bay stake as part of a package of assets. However, the deal became too complex and Apache agreed to pay $7 billion instead for onshore gas assets in the US, Canada and Egypt.
The Prudhoe Bay stake is worth approximately $20 billion (£12.9 billion).
BP is also in talks to sell assets in Vietnam and Venezuela as part of its $30 billion asset sales programme to help pay for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill—the cost of which has now risen to $8 billion.
The group has already raised $10 billion from asset sales.
News of the sales comes as BP is preparing to publish the findings of its internal investigation into the cause of the rig disaster.
