By Seher Dareen
(Reuters) -Chevron is selling its assets in Athabasca Oil (OTC:ATHOF) Sands and Duvernay Shale to Canadian Natural (NYSE:CNQ) Resources for $6.5 billion, the oil giant said on Monday as it puts in motion its divestiture plan.
The all-cash transaction, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, is a part of its strategy to divest $10 billion to $15 billion of assets by 2028.
The assets, located in Alberta, Canada, contributed 84,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) of production to Chevron (NYSE:CVX) in 2023.
The Duvernay is one of Canada's top shale plays and has seen eight deals worth $2.9 billion in the last three years, Wood Mackenzie said in January.
After the deal, Canadian Natural will own 90% of the Athabasca Oil Sands project, while Shell (LON:SHEL) owns the rest.
The company said along with the Duvernay assets, it would add 122,500 boepd of its target production in 2025.
It also raised its quarterly dividend by 7% to 56.25 Canadian cents per share, payable in January 2025, with its finance chief Mark Stainthorpe saying the deal will add to cash flow and earnings immediately.
Canadian Natural had a long-term debt of C$9.33 billion as of June 30.
Chevron, meanwhile, is looking to spend more than 75% of its production budget on U.S. shale basins, the Gulf of Mexico, the Eastern Mediterranean, Guyana, Australia and Kazakhstan.
It had recently cleared an FTC review on its $53 billion deal for Hess (NYSE:HES), but will need to clear a challenge by Exxon (NYSE:XOM) and CNOOC (NYSE:CEO), Hess's partners in a Guyana joint venture. A three-judge arbitration panel is set to consider the case next May.
"This transaction ..helps clean up the portfolio ahead of the pending Hess closing," analysts at RBC Capital Markets said in a note, adding that they expected free cash flow to improve into 2025.
Shares of Chevron were up 1.1% before the bell in a higher oil-price environment.