(By Balaseshan) Oil and gas producer ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) said it has sold an indirect interest in Russian joint venture NaryanMarNefteGaz for an undisclosed sum, as part of its ongoing strategy to reposition its asset base.
The Houston, Texas-based company said it has closed a transaction with LUKOIL for the sale of ConocoPhillips' indirect 30% interest in NaryanMarNefteGaz (NMNG) and certain related assets.
ConocoPhillips said it expects to recognize an after-tax financial gain of about $400 million for the sale of interest.
The sale of NMNG is just one part of ConocoPhillips' plan to increase value for shareholders through disciplined capital investment, improved returns on capital and growth in shareholder distributions.
"The sale of this non-core quality asset is an important component of our divestiture program for 2012," said Don Wallette, executive vice president, Commercial, Business Development, and Corporate Planning.
ConocoPhillips has operations and activities in 30 countries and about 16,500 employees as of June 30, 2012. Production averaged 1.59 million BOE per day for the six months ended June 30, 2012, and proved reserves were 8.4 billion BOE as of December 31, 2011.
COP closed Tuesday's regular session at $56.63. The stock has been trading between $50.62 and $78.29 for the past 52 weeks.