WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil and gas company Hess Corp. (HES) said it has closed the sale of 100 percent of its Russian unit, Samara-Nafta, to OAO LUKOIL for $2.05 billion. Including working capital and other adjustments, total after tax proceeds to Hess based on its 90 percent stake in Samara-Nafta were about $1.9 billion.
Total year-to-date proceeds from completed and announced asset sales total some $3.5 billion. The company is applying these proceeds to repay outstanding short-term debt and strengthen its balance sheet, providing the financial flexibility to fund future growth, as announced earlier.
Also, Hess is currently engaged in separate processes to sell its exploration and production assets in Indonesia and Thailand, and its remaining downstream businesses, including terminals, retail, energy marketing and trading. Most of the proceeds from these additional sales would be used to return capital directly to shareholders.
Hess expects to begin to buy back shares under its existing $4 billion authorization in the second half of this year.
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