Disposal

BP PLC
13 January 2003




January 13, 2003




            BP TO SELL FORTIES FIELD AND GULF OF MEXICO
                  ASSETS TO APACHE FOR $1.3 BILLION



BP announced today that it has agreed in principle to sell its 96.14 per cent
stake in the North Sea Forties oilfield, together with a package of
shallow-water assets in the Gulf of Mexico, to the US independent oil and gas
company, Apache, for $1.3 billion.



BP's share of production from Forties is some 48,000 barrels of oil equivalent a
day. Its overall current production from the UK North Sea is approximately
750,000 barrels a day.



The Gulf of Mexico assets comprise interests in 61 small fields in the shallow
water, mainly gas producers. BP's net share of output is around 71,000 barrels
of oil equivalent a day.



BP's share of the combined proved reserves for these assets is approximately 243
million barrels of oil equivalent.



The disposals are an outcome of BP's ongoing comprehensive review of its
worldwide asset portfolio, announced by chief executive Lord Browne last
October. Further transactions are expected during 2003.



BP said that sale would improve returns on its upstream portfolio by reducing
operating costs and freeing up capital for investment in other projects offering
better profit margins.



'The objective of our asset review is to emerge with a more streamlined,
consolidated portfolio that offers improved financial returns and higher value
growth in the near and long term,' the company said. 'This means disposing of
assets that may be worth more to others than to us.



'We believe this is an excellent deal for BP and Apache. Among other things, it
brings to the UKCS a powerful US independent, for which Forties will be a highly
material asset and therefore more likely to attract necessary future 
investment.'



Subject to UK and US regulatory consents and other approvals, the sale is
expected to be completed in the first half of this year. The Forties pipeline is
not included in the sale.





Notes to Editors:



•        The Forties field was discovered in October 1970 and began producing
oil in September 1975. It was officially inaugurated by Her Majesty The Queen on
November 3, 1975. At its peak in 1979 it produced some 500,000 barrels a day -
well above early expectations - representing about 25 per cent of UK oil demand
at the time. To date, some 2.5 billion barrels of oil have been produced from
the field.



•        BP's worldwide production is in excess of 3.5 million barrels of oil
and gas equivalent a day.





Further enquiries:


Clare Bebbington, BP Press Office, London, tel: [phone]
BP Press Office, London, tel: [phone] or [phone]


Tony Lentini, Apache Press Office, Houston, tel: [phone]



Web sites:            www.bp.com
                      www.apachecorp.com



                              --ENDS--


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange