Anadarko Petroleum Corporation announced it has signed a definitive agreement with an undisclosed party to enter into a carried-interest arrangement for a portion of Anadarko’s ownership in the Heidelberg development project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

Under the terms of the agreement, Anadarko will be carried for $860 million, which represents nearly all its expected capital requirements through the anticipated date of first oil at Heidelberg in mid-2016. In exchange, Anadarko will convey a 12.75-percent working interest in the Heidelberg development. Anadarko will continue as operator with a 31.5-percent working interest.

“The Heidelberg carried-interest agreement builds upon our track record of accelerating value, maximizing returns and enhancing the capital efficiency of our large-scale projects,” Anadarko President and CEO Al Walker said. “This agreement establishes a market value of approximately $3 billion for Anadarko’s interest in the Heidelberg deepwater development, which is estimated to hold up to 400 million barrels of recoverable resources. In addition, our ‘design one, build two’ approach with the ongoing construction of our Lucius spar is expected to result in significant cost savings, and it enables us to shorten the expected development cycle for a project of this scale by up to 18 months.”

The agreement is expected to close in April 2013, with an effective date of April 1, 2013, and is subject to existing preferential rights, contingencies and other customary closing conditions.

The Heidelberg development is located in 5,300 feet of water, approximately 140 miles offshore Louisiana, and consists of Green Canyon blocks 859, 860, 903, 904 and 948. The project is being developed utilizing a truss spar, which is currently under construction, with a design capacity similar to the Lucius spar at 80,000 barrels of oil per day.

Press Release, March 06 , 2013