Houston-based Anadarko Petroleum Corp. says it’s paying $2 billion to acquire the deepwater Gulf of Mexico assets belonging to Freeport McMoRan Oil and Gas which is a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. based in Phoenix.
The deal is to be concluded before year’s end and will double Anadarko’s ownership in the Lucius deepwater development to 49 percent. It will also add 80,000 barrels of oil a day to its sales-volume guidance.
Company officials say the acquisition comes as the firm increases the Lucius field’s estimated ultimate recovery to more than 400 million boe from the previous 300 boe.