The market has reportedly valued BHP’s United States shale portfolio between AU$9.2 billion and AU$11.8 billion, as the mining giant continues to scope the sale as part of its business restructure.
BHP was pressured to sell off its US shale assets last year by activist investor Elliott Management, which said shareholders would be better off with those assets off the company’s books.
According to a Bloomberg report, BHP has recently fielded offers from oil and gas majors including BP, Chevron, and Royal Dutch Shell, with bids ranging from US$7 billion to US$9 billion.
Unnamed sources have also reportedly said some bidders have expressed interest in buying portions of the business, rather than participating in a single sale.
Elliott Management’s aggressive push for BHP to restructure was off the back analysis which argued BHP’s US shale acquisitions had wiped US$40 billion in shareholder value. In 2011, the Melbourne-based miner spent US$20 billion acquiring two US oil and gas assets.