Chevron mulls Asia assets sale

Chevron is allegedly preparing to sell assets in Asia as part a global divestment drive that is set to raise USD 10 billion, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The US major will kick off its divestment campaign by shedding assets offshore China later in August, which will include its shareholding in a venture with China National Offshore Oil Corporation. According to insiders cited by the Wall Street Journal, the deal could be worth close USD 1 billion. Chevron has also put up for bid geothermal assets in Indonesia, valued at USD 2 billion, and gasfields in Thailand. In total, the company’s assets in Asia could fetch as much as USD 5 billion.

Chevron’s USD 10-billion divestment objective for 2016 was first announced in January, with the company having already reached 14% of its targeted volume. The details of Chevron’s Asia divestment efforts follow the announcement in late-July of a USD 1.47-billion loss over the second quarter of 2016. The company ran a USD 571-million profit over the same period last year. Chevron also posted drop of more than USD 10 billion in revenue to USD 29.28 billion.