Hess (HES 0.67%) is now free of its stakes in three Caspian Sea oil fields and a pipeline. The company closed its sale of those assets, divesting them to India's ONGC Videsh. The price is $1 billion for the stakes, which amount to a 2.72% interest in the Azeria, Chirag, and Guneshli fields, and 2.36% of the BTC pipeline.
According to a company press release announcing the move, Hess will reap after-tax proceeds of $884 million "after adjusting for net cash flow received since the Jan. 1, 2012 effective date of sale."
The firm quoted its CEO John Hess as saying that the deal "is another step in the execution of our strategy to become a more focused, higher growth, lower risk pure play exploration and production company."
