Devon to divest all GOM, international assets, focus on onshore North America

Devon Energy Corp recently unveiled its plan to strategically reposition itself as a high-growth North American onshore company. The company intends to divest all of its Gulf of Mexico and international assets and to direct proceeds to its high-return US and Canadian onshore portfolio and to retire debt.

“Devon’s success has led to an overabundance of opportunities, and this repositioning will allow us to optimize value for our shareholders,” said J. Larry Nichols, chairman and chief executive officer. “We do not believe that the value of our high-quality Gulf and international assets is being adequately reflected in our stock price. By monetizing these assets, we will realize their full value, allowing us to unleash the growth potential that resides within our world-class onshore assets.”

“Following the divestitures, Devon will be uniquely positioned to deliver high organic growth on a sustainable basis, funded entirely with internally generated funds. Furthermore, we expect Devon to emerge with an even stronger balance sheet and one of the lowest overall cost structures in our peer group,” Mr Nichols added.

Devon expects to complete the divestitures throughout 2010 and to have finished the process by year-end. The company believes the divestitures will generate after-tax proceeds of $4.5 billion to $7.5 billion.