(Source: Tulsa World)

By 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.
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