BP Will Sell Colombia Assets to Ecopetrol, Talisman

BP Plc, seeking to raise funds to pay compensation for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, agreed to sell fields in Colombia to Ecopetrol SA and Talisman Energy Inc. for $1.9 billion in cash.

Colombia’s state oil company will take 51 percent of BP’s production, exploration and transportation business in the South American country and Canada’s Talisman the rest, BP said in a statement. They will pay a $1.25 billion deposit and the remainder on completion. The assets produce the equivalent of about 25,000 barrels of oil and gas a day, BP said.