|
Elliott, a New York-based fund that has built up a 4.1 percent
stake in BHP, is pushing a three-point plan to collapse the
company's dual-listed structure, spin off its oil and gas assets
in the United States, and boost returns to shareholders - all of
which BHP has rejected.
Speaking at a media roundtable in Tokyo, Mackenzie said BHP was
reviewing some of its natural gas assets where it finds it "very
hard to produce investment opportunities" but emphasized the
review was a part of regular assessments of its business.
"In some cases we will seek and have sought and are seeking to
divest ourselves of these positions and in other cases we will
use hedging in order to justify an investment in production,"
Mackenzie said, without being specific.
BHP announced in April it was putting its Fayetteville shale
assets in Arkansas back up for sale and, in May, Mackenzie said
the company was also looking to sell much of its Hawkville
acreage in the Eagle Ford shale formation.
Mackenzie said he was "always interested in new ideas" on
boosting shareholder value.
Elliot said last month after the meeting with Mackenzie in
Barcelona that the talks had been "constructive".
BHP's oil business, including its shale drilling, is profitable
with oil prices below $50 a barrel, Mackenzie said when asked.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil was trading at $48.21 a barrel
at 0407 GMT on Monday. BHP shares on the Australian stock
exchange were up about 1.8 percent.
(Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Richard Pullin and
Christian Schmollinger)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
