Shell sells Gabon oil assets to Carlyle for $587 million

Bloomberg

Royal Dutch Shell Plc has agreed to sell its onshore oil assets in Gabon to a unit of Carlyle Group LP for $587 million, taking it closer to its $30 billion divestment target.
Carlyle’s unit Assala Energy Holdings Ltd. will also take on $285 million of debt from Shell’s Gabon unit and will make an additional payment of as much as $150 million depending on produc-
tion performance and commodity prices. The transaction will also result in Shell taking a $53 million impairment charge this quarter, the company said.
Shell is about two-thirds of the way through its divestment target, due to be completed by the end of next year. The money from the sales will be used to pare down debt taken to fund its record purchase of BG Group Plc last year.
It sold $7.25 billion of oil sands assets in Canada this month and offloaded a large chunk of UK North Sea positions in January. It is also planning to sell fuel stations and a refinery in Argentina.
The sale in Gabon “is consistent with Shell’s strategy to concentrate our upstream footprint where we can be most competitive,”
Andy Brown, director for the
upstream business, said in the statement. “Shell will continue to pursue opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa.”
The transaction is subject to conditions including various approvals and is expected to close in the middle of this year.