BP Plc on Friday said it had sold around half its roughly 20% stake in New Zealand Refining Company Limited for $56.2 million as part of a global portfolio review, Reuters reported
BP was the largest shareholder in New Zealand's only oil refiner.
"BP regularly undertakes reviews of its assets, partnerships and shareholdings around the world and today's transaction is the outcome of one such global portfolio review," BP's head of Asia-Pacific fuels Andy Holmes said in a statement.
BP did not disclose the buyer of the stake, but said in a statement that it had retained a 10.1% interest in the company, via local subsidiaries.
"BP's reduction in shareholding does not affect the existing contractual arrangements between Refining NZ and BP, including the processing agreement," New Zealand Refining said in a statement.
ExxonMobil Corp, via a subsidiary, and New Zealand's Z Energy Ltd are the other major shareholders in New Zealand Refining.
Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Richard Lough and Joseph Radford