Alaska is not included in the deals, which BP said are worth a total of $7 billion. There has been widespread speculation that BP would sell at least half of its Prudhoe Bay asset to Apache.

Included in what BP described as several agreements are the company’s Permian basin assets in Texas and south-east New Mexico, upstream gas assets in western Canada and the Western Desert business concessions and East Badr El-din exploration concession in Egypt.

BP said in June that it had increased its target for divestments to $10 billion, as the company raises cash to meet obligations from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

See story in July 25 issue, available to subscribers online at noon, Friday, July 23, at www.PetroleumNews.com