Unocal May Sell Its California Oil Fields : Energy: The Los Angeles-based company says it wants to focus on other assets overseas.

Unocal Corp. said Tuesday that it is negotiating to sell its California oil and natural gas assets, a divestment that would sever 103-year-old ties to oil fields that helped make it one of the world’s largest oil companies.

Los Angeles-based Unocal said three outside companies have made offers for the California exploration and production assets, which include 69 oil and gas fields.

Unocal said it is considering selling the assets in order to concentrate on larger overseas opportunities.

“For a company of Unocal’s size to continue growing, it must pursue large, long-life projects,” said Roger C. Beach, Unocal’s chief executive.

Unocal said it received the unsolicited offers from Torch Energy Advisers, a Houston-based pension fund adviser and unit of Birmingham, Ala.-based Torchmark Corp.; Tulsa, Okla.-based Vintage Petroleum Inc., operating in partnership with Venoco Inc. of Santa Barbara, and Contour Production Co., a closely held Houston company.

Unocal spokesman Barry Lane declined to estimate the market value of the properties, which generate about 33,000 barrels of oil and 80 million cubic feet of natural gas a day. Last week, Unocal sold 12 smaller oil and gas fields for about $32 million.

“This sale would be much bigger,” Lane said.

The assets Unocal is putting on the block include 10 producing platforms off the California coast in state and federal waters. Unocal will keep other major operations in California, Lane said, including its Los Angeles headquarters, three refineries and a chain of 1,200 service stations.

“We believe California does have some opportunities for growth” in oil and gas production, he said. “But incremental growth for Unocal? It’s not there.”

Beach said Unocal will invest any sale proceeds in “significant growth opportunities in Unocal’s strategic areas of interest, such as the Gulf of Mexico and Southeast Asia.”

The company also wants to accelerate development of other North American assets, primarily natural gas reserves in the Gulf of Mexico. It also hopes to speed development of the Salak and Sarulla geothermal projects in Indonesia, expand natural gas fields and develop new fields in Thailand and Indonesia, and develop the Yadana gas field off the coast of Myanmar.

“We’re entering a dynamic new chapter in Unocal’s history, with a strong focus on natural gas development in the expanding markets of Asia,” Beach said.

Unocal now produces about 257,000 barrels of oil a day, a little more than half of which comes from U.S. wells, along with 1.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas, 1.1 billion of which is domestic.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. analyst Donald F. Textor said the fields are yielding little profit for Unocal but have proven reserves that could be sold for $400 million to $500 million.

Unocal has sold nearly $2 billion in assets since 1988, including truck stop and shale oil businesses, and has turned from a national to a regional retailer of motor fuels, centering on California. Last week it sold 12 oil and gas fields in Texas, North Dakota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Wyoming for $32 million.

Unocal said the discussions do not include the Point Pedernales offshore rig and several onshore fields near Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County. It is already negotiating to sell those to Torch Energy.

Unocal closed unchanged at $28.375 on the New York Stock Exchange.