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US oil giant ConocoPhillips said Wednesday it plans to sell US$10B of assets in the next two years and cut capital spending in 2010 in a bid to improve its financial position. Houston-based ConocoPhillips said in a statement it would sell about US$10B of its refining, exploration and production assets over the next two years. It also plans to reduce its spending to about US$11B in 2010, from US$12.5B in 2009. “This plan capitalizes on our large resource base and our strong portfolio of projects, while providing flexibility for potential changes in business conditions. We will replace reserves and grow production from a reduced, but more strategic, asset base,” said Jim Mulva, chairman and chief executive officer of the company. Read more

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BP, the UK energy group, has discovered a “giant” oilfield in the Gulf of Mexico that shows a new frontier opening up for US Crude Oil production. The Tiber field, in more than 1,200m of water about 250 miles south-east of Houston, is one of the biggest discoveries in recent years. It is thought to hold at least 3B bbls of Crude Oil, of which about 500M would be recoverable with today’s technology, and could be significantly larger. The field was found by the deepest oil well ever drilled, reaching more than 9.4km, almost six miles, below the sea bed. BP is pioneering the exploration of the Lower Tertiary or Paleogene area of the Gulf of Mexico, which lies deeper than the strata that provide most of the region’s known reserves. The Tiber discovery, following the Kaskida field found in 2006, which is also believed to hold 3B+ bbls of Crude Oil, is further evidence that there are large volumes yet to be found in the Gulf. BP believes there could be a further 20B barrels or more in the deep water, on top of the US’s proved reserves of about 30B barrels.

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