ConocoPhillips said on April 12 it was selling its stake in Canada's Syncrude to Chinese oil giant Sinope.

ConocoPhillips said it had reached "definitive agreements" with subsidiaries of Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (SIPC) to sell its 9.03% interest in Syncrude for $4.65 billion.

The transaction was expected to close in the third quarter of 2010 after required approval by the Canadian and Chinese governments.

ConocoPhillips announced last year that it intended to sell $10 billion of assets over two years. "This is an important step in the divestiture program which we announced last October, and we are pleased that SIPC has recognized the value of this quality asset," said Jim Mulva, CEO of ConocoPhillips. "The completion of this transaction demonstrates the strength of the asset base available to meet our asset sales goals."

ConocoPhillips plans to sell approximately half of the assets in 2010 with the remainder in 2011, and use part of the proceeds to reduce debt.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010