The largest FDI transaction in the energy industry in 2006 was the sale of PacifiCorp by Scottish Power to MidAmerican Energy Holding’s,
a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, for $5.1 billion in cash and $4.1 billion
in acquired debt and preferred stock outstanding.PacifiCorp owns Pacific Power and Rocky
Mountain Power, two regulated utilities that provide electricity to 1.6 million
customers in six western states. Its
facilities include electric power generation units with more than 9,000 megawatts
of capacity and 15,700 miles of power transmission lines. PacifiCorp also owns coal-mining operations to
supply some of its power plants. Scottish
Power, whose purchase of PacifiCorp in 1999 was the first major purchase of a U.S. electric power company by a foreign
investor, divested the business in order to focus on its United Kingdom natural gas and electric
utility operations.Berkshire Hathaway
is a holding company that owns and operates numerous companies in the United States
and internationally; its primary business is insurance.
Table
3.Completed Divestitures of U.S.
Energy Assets by Foreign Direct Investors, 2006*
Divesting Foreign Parent Company
(Country)
U.S.
Subsidiary
Company or
Asset Being
Divested
Business of
Divested
Company
or Asset
Acquiring
U.S. Parent
Company
Estimated
Value
(million $)
Closing Month
Scottish
Power
-
PacifiCorp
electric powerb
Berkshire Hathaway
9,200
March
Petróleos
de Venezuela
CITGO Petroleum
Houston Refining
(41.25 percent)
petroleum refining
Lyondell Chemical
2,767
August
BP
(England & Wales)
BP America
Coleto Creek power plant
oil & gas production
Apache
845
April
EnCana
(Canada)
-
natural gas storage
midstream natural gas
Carlyle/Riverstone
327
a
May
Total
(France)
Total Exploration & Production USA
oil & gas properties
oil & gas production
XTO Energy
300
February
EnCana
(Canada)
-
Entrega Gas Pipeline
midstream natural gas
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners & Sempra Energy
245
February
EnCana
(Canada)
-
natural gas storage
midstream natural gas
Carlyle Group & Riverstone Holdings
215
November
BP
(England & Wales)
BP America
working interests in oil &gas properties
oil & gas production
Stone Energy
188
July
BP
(England & Wales)
BP America
working interests in oil &gas properties
oil & gas production
Swift Energy
143
October
BP
(England & Wales)
BP America
pipeline systems
crude oil pipelines
Plains All American Pipeline
130
July
Royal Dutch
Shell
(England & Wales)
Shell
Oil
Shell Energy Services
natural gas distribution
MXenergy
126
August
*Includes only transactions valued at
$100 million or greater.
aEstimate base on U.S. share of total
capacity sold.