Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- ConocoPhillips, the U.S. oil company that announced plans last week for $10 billion in divestitures, may sell such assets as its stake in Canadian oil-sands producer Syncrude Canada Ltd., UBS Securities LLC said.

The Houston-based oil producer has identified about $20 billion worth of assets from which it can reach its target of $10 billion in sales, UBS said in a report to clients dated yesterday. ConocoPhillips may look to sell properties where it’s not the operating partner, UBS said.

ConocoPhillips said Oct. 7 that it plans to use proceeds from asset sales over the next two years to reduce borrowings, cutting its debt-to-capital ratio to a range of 20 percent to 25 percent. The ratio was 34 percent as of the end of June. UBS said the divestitures may be expanded.

“Management stated it would sell more than the $10 billion target if it received offers that exceeded their internal valuations,” UBS said.

ConocoPhillips spokesman Charlie Rowton declined to comment on the UBS report or to discuss which assets the company may sell. The stake in Syncrude is about 9 percent. Other partners in the venture include Canadian Oil Sands Trust, Imperial Oil Ltd., Suncor Energy Inc., Murphy Oil Corp., Nexen Inc. and Japan’s Mocal Energy Ltd.

Cheryl Robb, a spokeswoman for Syncrude, declined to comment on ownership matters.

Lukoil Stake

ConocoPhillips was “non-committal” on a possible sale of its 20 percent stake in Russia’s OAO Lukoil, according to UBS. It makes sense for the company to shed some of its interest in Lukoil to boost cash returns while keeping a foothold in Russia, UBS said.

North American natural-gas assets also may be sold in light of ConocoPhillips’s “more cautious” outlook for U.S. fuel prices, according to the report. The company purchased gas producer Burlington Resources Inc. in 2006. The UBS report also listed assets in Algeria, Nigeria and Libya as possible holdings that could be sold.

UBS said ConocoPhillips was “pragmatic” in seeing that it may be tough to sell refining assets in the near term. ConocoPhillips won’t list assets on foreign exchanges as part of its divestiture plan, UBS said.

ConocoPhillips fell 13 cents to $50.84 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock had fallen 1.6 percent this year before today.

William Featherston, a UBS analyst in New York, rates the shares at “neutral.” ConocoPhillips has eight buy ratings, nine holds and one sell recommendation from analysts.

ConocoPhillips is the third-biggest U.S. oil company, ranking behind Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp.

To contact the reporter on this story: Edward Klump in Houston at eklump@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 14, 2009 16:10 EDT