Phoenix-based Freeport-McMoRan is selling its offshore property in the Gulf of Mexico to Anadarko Petroleum for $2 billion, FuelFix.com reports. The deal, announced Monday, doubles Anadarko Petroleum’s foothold in the Lucius deepwater field.
Anadarko says it expects the transaction with Freeport-McMoRan to close in the fourth quarter, bringing its working interest in the field from about 25% to almost 50%. That means Anadarko will be able to sell an additional 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day out of the Gulf of Mexico.
Anadarko says the purchase will generate $3 billion in incremental free cash flow at current crude prices, which will help the company to double production in the Delaware Basin in West Texas and the DJ Basin in Colorado to more than 600,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day by 2021. Anadarko also announced it plans to sell 35.2 million shares in a secondary stock offering to pay for the acquisition.
