U.S. oil major Chevron (CVX) has sold some of its Alberta oil sands assets to Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) for $6.5 billion.
The sale concerns Chevron’s 20% interest in the Athabasca Oil Sands Project and a 70% holding in the Duvernay shale project, both located in Alberta.
The all-cash sale is expected to close by year’s end, according to Chevron.
The asset sale comes as Chevron focuses its growth on the Permian basin in Texas and the Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan, where a $48.5 billion U.S. expansion is almost completed.
Chevron is also in the process of buying Hess Corp. (HES) for $53 billion U.S., a deal that would boost its presence in the South American country of Guyana.
Canada’s oil sands are undergoing a transformation following the completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline that now takes crude to the British Columbia coast for shipping to Asia.
Since June of this year, the Trans Mountain pipeline has facilitated the shipment of 28 million barrels of crude oil to Canada’s west coast, almost two-thirds of which was sent to China and other Asian destinations.
Chevron’s stock is flat on the year (up 0.84%) and trading at $150.74 U.S. per barrel.
Canadian Natural Resources’ stock has gained 10% this year to trade at $48.22 a share.
