ConocoPhillips is focusing on its U.S. shale business and is getting ready to sell some or all of its North Sea assets that could fetch US$2 billion, Reuters reported on Monday, citing banking and industry sources. ConocoPhillips—which had tried to sell some of its North Sea assets in 2014 but failed—has not yet launched a sales process or appointed banks, according to Reuters’ sources. Executives from the U.S. oil company, however, are said to have recently met and spoken with several operators in the North Sea and with bankers to “gauge the appetite for the sale”, one of the sources told Reuters. ConocoPhillips has been operating in the UK and Norwegian parts of the North Sea for more than 50 years. The company’s operated assets in Europe include the Greater Britannia, J-Area, and Southern North Sea (SNS) fields in the United Kingdom and the Greater Ekofisk Area in Norway. […]