BP to Sell Stake in Pan American Energy for $7.06 Billion

BP PLC is selling its 60-percent stake in Argentina-based oil and gas producer Pan American Energy for $7.06 billion as part of its strategy to sell of tens of billions of assets to help pay for the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the Associated Press. The British oil giant said that Argentina''s Bridas Corp., which already owns 40 percent of Pan American, will buy out BP''s stake. The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of 2011. BP announced this summer that it would sell up to $30 billion in company assets as cleanup and response costs mounted and it faced billions of dollars in government fines and legal claims.