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ConocoPhillips Sell List Reported By UBS Unit
Thursday, October 15, 2009 11:53 AM


(Source: Tulsa World)trackingBy EDWARD KLUMP

ConocoPhillips, which announced plans last week for $10 billion in divestitures, might sell such assets as its stake in Canadian oil- sands producer Syncrude Canada Ltd., UBS Securities LLC says.

The Houston-based oil producer has identified about $20 billion worth of assets from which it can reach its target of $10 billion in sales, UBS said in a report to clients dated Tuesday. ConocoPhillips may look to sell properties in which it's not the operating partner, UBS said.

ConocoPhillips said Oct. 7 that it plans to use proceeds from asset sales over the next two years to reduce borrowings, cutting its debt-to-capital ratio to a range of 20 percent to 25 percent. The ratio was 34 percent as of the end of June.

UBS said the divestitures may be expanded.

"Management stated it would sell more than the $10 billion target if it received offers that exceeded their internal valuations," UBS said.

ConocoPhillips' spokesman Charlie Rowton declined to comment on the UBS report or to discuss which assets the company might sell.

The company's stake in Syncrude is about 9 percent. Other partners in the venture include Canadian Oil Sands Trust, Imperial Oil Ltd., Suncor Energy Inc., Murphy Oil Corp., Nexen Inc. and Japan's Mocal Energy Ltd.

Cheryl Robb, a spokeswoman for Syncrude, declined to comment on the matters.

ConocoPhillips was "noncommittal" on a possible sale of its 20 percent stake in Russia's OAO Lukoil, according to UBS. It makes sense for the company to shed some of its interest in Lukoil to boost cash returns while keeping a foothold in Russia, UBS said.

North American natural gas assets also might be sold in light of ConocoPhillips' "more cautious" outlook for U.S. fuel prices, the report stated. The company purchased a gas producer, Burlington Resources Inc., in 2006.

The UBS report also listed assets in Algeria, Nigeria and Libya as possible holdings that could be sold.

UBS said ConocoPhillips was "pragmatic" in seeing that it might be tough to sell refining assets soon. ConocoPhillips won't list assets on foreign exchanges as part of its divestiture plan, UBS said.

Shares of ConocoPhillips fell 13 cents Wednesday to $50.84 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock had fallen 1.6 percent this year through Tuesday.

William Featherston, a UBS analyst in New York, rates the shares at "neutral." ConocoPhillips has eight buy ratings, nine holds and one sell recommendation from analysts.

ConocoPhillips is the third-biggest U.S. oil company.

Originally published by EDWARD KLUMP Bloomberg News.

(c) 2009 Tulsa World. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.



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