The Zhitong Finance App learned that British Petroleum (BP.US) is speeding up strategic adjustments. The company announced on Friday the launch of the North Sea business sale process to seek potential buyers to further streamline its asset portfolio, reduce debt, and focus capital on more valuable core businesses.
BP said the North Sea business “will be better positioned for development as part of another enterprise.” The company's CEO Meg O'Neill (Meg O'Neill) said that the North Sea is still an important part of the UK's energy system, but in the process of focusing on the core asset portfolio and investing capital into the highest value opportunities, the sale of this business is in line with the long-term strategic direction.
According to previous reports, BP may obtain a transaction value of about 2 billion pounds (about 2.7 billion US dollars) after completely divesting the North Sea business.
The sale is part of BP's larger asset restructuring plan. Over the past year, the company has completed or agreed to sell several assets, including the lubricants business Castrol (Castrol). Through asset divestment, BP hopes to simplify its business structure, improve its balance sheet, and strengthen investment in upstream oil and gas, downstream and trading businesses.
O'Neill officially took over as BP's CEO on April 1, 2026, becoming the first externally appointed head in the company's history. After taking office, she quickly promoted a strategic shift in an attempt to reverse the pressure on previous years of performance, and re-examined the low-carbon transition path promoted by former CEO Bernard Looney (Bernard Looney).
After continued pressure from aggressive investor Elliott Investment Management, BP has set more aggressive asset sales targets. The company plans to raise about $20 billion by selling assets by the end of 2027, and reduce net debt from the current approximately $26 billion to the range of $14 billion to $18 billion.
The North Sea business is part of BP's continued contraction in recent years. Over the past decade, the company has sold some of its North Sea assets, including the sale of an interest in the Shearwater oil field to Shell and the sale of the Forties oil transmission system. At the same time, competitors such as Shell and Total Energy have also reduced independent operations in this mature oil and gas region through mergers or sales.
Currently, BP is still one of the last major international oil companies in the North Sea region to maintain an independent business. The company has five production centers in the North Sea, producing about 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, while its global oil and gas production is about 2.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
If completed, this sale will be one of the largest asset disposal operations since O'Neal took charge of BP. Meanwhile, BP announced this week that it will cut about 700 jobs in production and operations, further reflecting the company's determination to reduce costs and improve operational efficiency.
The market is concerned about whether this strategic adjustment can help BP improve return on investment. The company will release its second-quarter earnings report next week. This is O'Neill's first full quarterly results report since becoming CEO.