BHP to exit US shale in two years, sell local nickel business

SYDNEY: BHP Billiton said yesterday it hopes to fully divest its troubled US onshore shale business in around two years and is also seeking a buyer for its nickel business in Australia.

The renewed push to unload both sets of assets, which the world’s biggest mining company no longer deems strategic, comes as prices for oil and nickel enjoy a price resurgence.

“Nickel West is non-core, shale is non-core,” Mackenzie told reporters following the company’s annual general meeting in Melbourne.

Nickel prices are up around 16% from January this year, while oil has risen about 9%. “We do consider we will see reasonable oil prices going forward, which is good for the businesses we retain and also the sales process,” Mackenzie said.

BHP entered the shale business at the height of the fracking boom in 2011 and invested billions developing the operations. A subsequent fall in oil prices resulted in pre-tax writedowns of about US$13 billion (RM54.3 billion). An exit from the shale business is one of the main demands of activist shareholders led by New York-based Elliott Management, who have pressed for a change of strategy by the global miner.

BHP acquired Nickel West in 2005 and several attempts in the past to sell it have failed. In shale, BHP recently sold a small portion of the onshore shale acreage, kicking off plans for a full exit over time. – Reuters