Chevron to buy Anadarko Petroleum in a $33 billion cash and stock deal

Both companies are offshore players in the Gulf of Mexico. Anadarko operates 10 offshore facilities in the Gulf, which Chevron says will enhance its presence in the region, where it has six deepwater hubs.

Chevron says it sees opportunities for tie-backs to Anadarko assets in the Gulf, which involves connecting offshore fields to existing infrastructure. Drillers have increasingly turned to the low-cost strategy to avoid the massive expense of building multi-billion dollar deepwater platforms.

Still, the company will consider new large-scale developments in the Gulf, Wirth told analysts.

The deal also gives Chevron a stronger foothold in the African liquefied natural gas market. Anadarko plans to build one of the world’s largest LNG export facilities in Mozambique, leveraging huge natural gas reserves from nearby offshore fields.

Chevron has deep experience developing LNG operations. The company is behind the massive Gorgon and Wheatstone projects in Australia and has a stake in the Angola LNG.

Demand for LNG — natural gas chilled to liquid form for transport by sea — is soaring as countries like China aim to meet their energy needs with gas, a cleaner-burning alternative to coal and fuel oil.

Asked on the conference call about delays to the eventual startups at Gorgon and Wheatstone, both of which are now operating, Wirth acknowledged that Chevron could have executed the projects better, saying “we’ve learned a lot of lessons from that.” He said the company will offer insight on Mozambique LNG where it makes sense, but believes the project should proceed as planned by Anadarko.

“We like what we’ve seen on all the engineering and development and execution planning, and we would intend to see it through on the path that it’s on,” Wirth said.

The deal, which is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, is expected to close in the second half of 2019. If approved, Chevron said, it plans to boost its annual share buyback program to $5 billion from $4 billion.

Chevron said it plans to divest $15 billion to $20 billion of assets between 2020 and 2022.

“This transaction will unlock significant value for shareholders, generating anticipated annual run-rate synergies of approximately $2 billion, and will be accretive to free cash flow and earnings one year after close,” Wirth said in the company’s release.

Credit Suisse Securities is Chevron’s financial adviser, while Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison is its legal adviser. Evercore and Goldman Sachs are financial advisers to Anadarko, while Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Vinson & Elkins LLP are its legal advisers.

Anadarko Petroleum stock has risen 6.8% this year, compared with a 17.6% increase in the S&P 500 Energy index over that period.

Watch: Full interview with Chevron CEO on plan to acquire Anadarko Petroleum