NEW YORK (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd is seeking a buyer for its stake in the Eagle Ford Basin oil and natural gas joint venture with Pioneer Natural Resources Co, a sale that could raise as much as $4.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
Pioneer has about 230,000 acres in the Eagle Ford Basin according to its website. The Eagle Ford asset is a joint venture with Mumbai-based Reliance. Pioneer sold a 45 percent interest in the Eagle Ford asset to Reliance for $1.2 billion in 2010.
Reliance has appointed Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to assist with the sale effort, the sources said, asking not to be named because the matter is not public.
Representatives for Citi and Bank of America declined to comment, while Reliance could not be immediately reached for comment.
(Reporting By Mike Stone in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
