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BP chief Executive Tony Hayward, left, chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg, centre, and incoming CEOr Bob Dudley pose for the media outside BP's headquarters in London on Tuesday, July 27.TOBY MELVILLE

BP is selling up to $30-billion (U.S.) in exploration and production assets to pay for its Gulf of Mexico oil spill, while insisting it can emerge from the crisis poised for renewed growth.

But the London-based company, which has $250-billion in total assets, is still counting on exploration and production in ultradeep water - including the Gulf of Mexico - to power its growth. It remains uncertain when the industry in general, and BP in particular, will be able to resume drilling in the waters where the spill occurred.

BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg insisted that, despite the Gulf disaster, the company remains strong and financially healthy. It is now taking dramatic steps to rebound, including the formal announcement Tuesday that chief executive officer Tony Hayward will be replaced on Oct. 1 by managing director Robert Dudley, who will be the company's first American leader.

Mr. Svanberg said the massive property sale will "remove any worry about our financial strength" and reassure investors that BP has the ability to handle the costs from the Macondo blowout and eventually resume paying dividends.

"We expect to achieve attractive offers for assets that have higher strategic value to others than to us," Mr. Svanberg told a conference call Tuesday.

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BP posted a loss of $17-billion in the second quarter, after taking a $32-billion charge that it says should cover its Gulf obligations. However, the company could face substantially higher costs if it is found to have been grossly negligent in the blowout that gushed crude into the Gulf for 85 days before being capped 10 days ago.

The company did not reveal what assets it intends to shed, beyond the package of U.S., Canadian and Egyptian properties sold to Apache Corp. for $7-billion (U.S.) earlier this month and operations in Pakistan and Vietnam that had been previously put on the block. BP said its production would drop by about 10 per cent from four million barrels per day once the sales are completed.

Analysts expect the company to attempt to sell its controlling interest in Alaska's Prudhoe Bay production and pipeline system, which could fetch as much as $12-billion. Also likely to be put up for sale are BP's stake in Argentina's Pan American Energy, worth up to $9-billion, and Vietnam's Nam Con Son gas project, valued at $1-billion, as well as other, smaller assets.

"BP will be a smaller, slimmer company, but with no change in the core business model," said Pavel Molchanov, an analyst with Raymond James Ltd. in Houston.

"I'm inclined to say it is well-positioned to rebound, but of course the situation is not entirely within BP's control. There are a lot of legal and regulatory pitfalls ahead, and it will take all of Dudley's diplomatic skills to successfully navigate them."

Phil Weiss of Argus Research Corp. said BP is eager to sell its controlling stake in Prudhoe Bay, but cautioned that the sale could be complicated by its status as operator of the fields and the pipeline, as well as by the presence of myriad partners.

BP is expected to retain its exploration properties off Alaska, just as it kept its acreage in Canada's Beaufort Sea after selling gas properties in Western Canada.

"Unless someone forces them to, I don't think you're going to hear deep water assets going anywhere, because it is such a big focus of theirs, and is an area where they can get growth," Mr. Weiss said.

While praising Mr. Hayward's leadership at BP, Mr. Svanberg said BP would re-evaluate its approach and "be a company going forward."

However, the chairman rejected any suggestion that BP had been negligent in its handling of the Macondo well, despite allegations that company officials had downplayed warnings about serious problems with the well, which was behind schedule.

He said the company based its estimate of future costs on the assumption that it would not be found to have been grossly negligent. Under U.S. law, a company would be fined $1,100 per spilled barrel under "strict liability," but $4,300 per barrel under a finding of "gross negligence." The difference, based on a top-end estimate of 5.1 million barrels spilled, is close to $16-billion.

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