CALGARY — Apache Corp. is taking US$3.25 billion in Western Canadian natural gas assets off BP PLC's hands as the British energy giant seeks to raise funds to help pay the cost from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The more than 526,000 hectares in British Columbia and Alberta are part of a $7-billion deal announced Tuesday, which will see Houston-based Apache also snap up BP holdings in Texas and Egypt.

"Apache has made a living off of the sales packages of majors, and I will tell you for the first time in our history we have an opportunity to take a major out of three core areas that are growing businesses," Steven Farris, Apache's chairman and chief executive, told a conference call with analysts.

"They really play to Apache's core competencies, which is adding value to underworked assets. An old cliche is the best place to find new reserves is in mature areas and this is right in our wheel house."

Apache gets access to emerging Canadian unconventional natural gas plays, including the Montney, Cadomin and Doig, as well as coalbed methane holdings in British Columbia.

The firm already has a major presence in Canada, producing 340 million cubic feet of natural gas and 16,557 barrels of liquids per day. The BP purchase adds another 240 million cubic feet and 6,500 barrels of liquids to Apache's daily Canadian production.

The sale does not include BP's Arctic or oilsands assets.

"Looking at the company's strategy going forward the oilsands are very key, as are the Beaufort or the Arctic area, so those remain as BP Canada," said BP Canada spokeswoman Hejdi Feick.

In the oilsands, BP has joint ventures with Husky Energy Inc. (TSX:HSE) at Sunrise and with Value Creation Inc. at Terre de Grace. Its presence in the North includes exploration leases in the Northwest Territories' Mackenzie Delta and in the Beaufort Sea.

The sale Tuesday also excludes BP's stake in Prudhoe Bay, countering published reports that said a deal with Apache for the Alaska field was in the works.

And BP is hanging on to its interests in the Kirby and Leismer gas fields, natural gas liquids, St. Lina heavy oil and the North America Gas trading business.

BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said the deal with Apache is the first transaction meant to help pay for the spill.

"The board believes that there are opportunities to divest assets which are strategically more valuable to other parties than they are to BP," he said.

"Today's announcement is the first such transaction and meets the value and strategic criteria of both parties."

The proceeds will go towards a $20-billion fund to help pay cleanup costs and damages from the spill. Apache has agreed to give BP a $5-billion cash deposit on July 30.

BP realized it needed to bolster its available cash following the April 20 explosion of the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon rig, which killed 11 workers. The company has already suspended dividend payments of about $10.6 billion for this year.

A month ago, BP said it planned to shed as much as $10 billion in assets over the next 12 months. The company has spent about $4 billion so far on containing and cleaning up the oil, as well as on damage claims from Gulf businesses.

In addition to the Canadian business, the BP assets sold include oil fields and gas processing plants in Texas and southeast New Mexico worth $3.1 billion and exploration and production assets in Egypt worth about $650 million.

"Our former chairman and founder used to say Apache's main business is following a cow through the corn fields and we can get fat on the scraps that are left," Farris said.

"The good thing about this transaction is that we're eating the corn this time. This is a very good transaction for Apache"

BP shares rose almost three per cent in after-hours trading while Apache shares dropped about three per cent.

-- With files from The Associated Press