ConocoPhillips May Divest Remaining Stake In North Sea Asset

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) intends to divest its remaining assets in the North Sea and hence will be looking for prospective bidders by 2018-end, per Bloomberg.

The report added that the properties to be sold will include the upstream energy firm’s remaining stake in Clair Field. The companies that could place bid will include rival upstream players along with private equity firms allocating capital budget for North Sea resources, per the source. Bloomberg has estimated the transaction at $3 billion.

It is to be noted that following the receipt of an unsolicited offer, ConocoPhillips has commenced marketing for its properties in the United Kingdom. The company will only sell the U.K. properties if the bids meets its expectation.

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is another energy giant planning to divest its entire stakes in matured resources in the North Sea and turn focus to opportunities in lucrative domestic shale plays.

Investors should know that more and more drillers are gathering in U.S. shale plays. Per the rig count data issued by Baker Hughes, a GE company (NYSE:BHGE) , total number of rigs exploring oil and gas resources in the United States increased from 924 — as of week ended Jan 5, 2018 — to 1,081 for the week ended Nov 9, 2018.

Currently, ConocoPhillips carries aZacks Rank #2 (Buy), while Chevron has aZacks Rank #3 (Hold). Meanwhile, a better-ranked player in the energy space is Energen Corporation (NYSE:EGN) with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Energen posted an average positive earnings surprise of 18.6% for the last four quarters.

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