ConocoPhillips Hires Banks To Sell North Sea Oil Stake: FT

(RTTNews) - US-based energy firm ConocoPhillips (COP) has hired banks to sell its 24 percent stake in the Clair oilfield, the UK's largest oilfield, the Financial Times reported quoting people familiar with the matter. The stake is said to fetch between $2 billion and $3 billion.

BP Plc. (BP, BP.L) has a 28.6 percent stake in the field, Royal Dutch Shell (RDS-B, RDSB.L, RDSA.L, RDS-A) a 28 percent holding and Chevron Corp. (CVX) has a 19 percent stake.

The moves comes as the future of North Sea oil is being debated ahead of the Scottish independence referendum later this week. The project is located in Scottish territorial waters west of the Shetland islands.

The Clair field, discovered in 1977, is believed to hold 7 billion barrels of oil. But, production began only in 2005. A second phase called Clair Ridge is under development and is expected to start up in 2017.

According to some campaigners for the Yes vote in Thursday's referendum on Scottish independence, Clair is capable of generating income and tax revenues that could sustain Scotland's public finances for decades.

However, industry sources underline the technical difficulties of extracting the oil.

COP closed up 1.2 percent on Monday at $79.40.