13.01.2003 – 13:02

BP plc

euro adhoc: BP PLC
Disposal (E)

Disclosure announcement transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer is
responsible for the content of this announcement.

January 13, 2003

BP TO SELL FORTIES FIELD AND GULF OF MEXICO
                  ASSETS TO APACHE FOR $1.3 BILLION

BP announced today that it has agreed in principle to sell its 96.14
per cent stake in the North Sea Forties oilfield, together with a
package of shallow-water assets in the Gulf of Mexico, to the US
independent oil and gas company, Apache, for $1.3 billion.

BP's share of production from Forties is some 48,000 barrels of oil
equivalent a day. Its overall current production from the UK North
Sea is approximately 750,000 barrels a day.

The Gulf of Mexico assets comprise interests in 61 small fields in
the shallow water, mainly gas producers. BP's net share of output is
around 71,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

BP's share of the combined proved reserves for these assets is
approximately 243 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The disposals are an outcome of BP's ongoing comprehensive review of
its worldwide asset portfolio, announced by chief executive Lord
Browne last October. Further transactions are expected during 2003.

BP said that sale would improve returns on its upstream portfolio by
reducing operating costs and freeing up capital for investment in
other projects offering better profit margins.

"The objective of our asset review is to emerge with a more
streamlined, consolidated portfolio that offers improved financial
returns and higher value growth in the near and long term," the
company said. "This means disposing of assets that may be worth more
to others than to us.

"We believe this is an excellent deal for BP and Apache. Among other
things, it brings to the UKCS a powerful US independent, for which
Forties will be a highly material asset and therefore more likely to
attract necessary future investment."

Subject to UK and US regulatory consents and other approvals, the
sale is expected to be completed in the first half of this year. The
Forties pipeline is not included in the sale.

Notes to Editors:

·        The Forties field was discovered in October 1970 and began
producing oil in September 1975. It was officially inaugurated by Her
Majesty The Queen on November 3, 1975. At its peak in 1979 it
produced some 500,000 barrels a day - well above early expectations
-representing about 25 per cent of UK oil demand at the time. To
date, some 2.5 billion barrels of oil have been produced from
the field.

·        BP's worldwide production is in excess of 3.5 million
barrels of oil and gas equivalent a day.

--ENDS--

This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

end of announcement        euro adhoc 13.01.2003

Further inquiry note:

Further enquiries: Clare Bebbington, BP Press Office, London, tel: +44 (0)20 7496 4851 BP
Press Office, London, tel: +44 (0)20 7496 4067 or +44 (0)20 7496 4358 Tony Lentini, Apache Press
Office, Houston, tel: +1 713 296 6227 Web sites: www.bp.com www.apachecorp.com

Branche: Energy
ISIN: GB0007980591
WKN: 850517
Börsen: Baden-Württembergische Wertpapierbörse / free trade
Bayerische Börse / free trade
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