Global miner BHP Group is considering getting out of oil and gas business as it looks to speed up its retreat from fossil fuels, Bloomberg News reported.
The world’s biggest miner is reviewing its petroleum business and considering options including a trade sale, the report said.
Mining companies around the world are under growing shareholder pressure to reduce their carbon footprint and take stringent climate actions to cut emissions, as calls for a shift towards cleaner forms of energy accelerate.
Analysts at RBC said they valued BHP’s oil and gas portfolio focused on the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, eastern Canada and Australia at $14.3 billion.
BHP, the bulk of whose earnings come from its iron ore and copper units, sold its shale business to British oil major BP for $10.4 billion in 2018.