BP shares up on $7.1B Pan American sale

[May 10, 2011]  LONDON (AP) -- Shares in BP PLC are trading higher after the London-based oil company announced over the weekend that it has agreed to sell its 60 percent stake in Argentina-based oil and gas producer Pan American Energy for $7.1 billion.

The sale to Argentina's Bridas Corp., which already owns the other 40 percent of Pan American, is part of BP's plans to sell tens of billions of dollars of assets to help pay for the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The deal takes BP withing range of its target of $25-30 billion in asset sales by the end of next year. It expects to spend nearly $40 billion to handle the Gulf spill, which was sparked by an April 20 rig explosion that killed 11 workers.

BP stock was up 0.5 percent at 438.3 pence ($6.84) on Monday.

[Associated Press]

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