Imperial Oil Ltd. has put a natural-gas property in British Columbia on the block in the latest example of a major producer paring exposure to Canada.
Imperial and its partner in the development, Exxon Mobil Corp., are selling their Horn River shale-gas asset in the province’s northeast corner. Exxon owns a majority stake in Imperial.
The property includes 239,000 acres, plus ownership in pipelines, roads and facilities, according to a posting in the Daily Oil Bulletin, an industry trade publication.
Imperial shelved the project last year at the same time it abandoned a long-stalled Arctic natural-gas pipeline, taking a $289-million charge in the fourth quarter.
In 2016, Imperial sought a buyer for its Norman Wells operations in the Northwest Territories and has also sold its network of gas stations as it focuses spending on its expanding oil sands business in Alberta.
The latest move by the Calgary-based company comes amid a broad retreat from Canada by the world’s largest energy companies, a pullback that has sparked fears the country is losing ground to the United States in attracting investment in energy projects.
The 50/50 Horn River joint venture with Exxon was once touted as a potentially major supply source for liquefied-natural-gas exports, but those efforts have mostly stalled.
An Imperial spokesman said in an e-mail the company remains committed to its Canadian operations.