British oil giant BP said on Wednesday that it had agreed to sell its stake in China's Yacheng gas field to the state-owned Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) as part of a divestment programme. "BP today announced that it has agreed the sale of its 34.3-percent interest in the Yacheng gas field in the South China Sea to KUFPEC for $308 million (232 million euros) cash.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of next year, subject to regulatory, CNOOC and third-party approvals. BP operated the field until 1 January, 2004, when it handed operatorship to major project partner CNOOC, the Chinese state-owned energy giant. Commercial production at Yacheng began in 1996. Following the deal, KUFPEC will own 49 percent of the partnership and CNOOC will hold a majority 51-percent stake. The Yacheng gas field supplies natural gas for power generation to Castle Peak Company Limited in Hong Kong via a 780-kilometre pipeline. Additional natural gas, condensate and LPG are sold to customers on Hainan Island.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012