Anadarko Petroleum Co.'s chief executive on Thursday said his company was not actively looking for a buyer for its oil exploration and production business in Algeria.
"This is an asset that we have not announced being for sale, in fact we have indicated just the opposite," Anadarko CEO Jim Hackett said at a Bank of America conference in Florida.
Sources had told Reuters that Anadarko was considering the sale but had not made a final decision about the Algerian business.
But Hackett said the business fits the company's new strategy and has future growth potential.
"We, like all stewards of shareholder money, should be prepared during the course of a life of a company to receive peoples interest about assets and if the (net present value) of that asset could be exceeded its something we would certainly consider. But it is not because we are actively out trying to seek a buyer for Algeria," he said.
Shares of Anadarko fell 60 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $47.02 in mid-day trading.
© Reuters