Devon Energy (DVN) announced on Tuesday a plan to realign itself as a high-growth North American onshore company, producing oil and natural gas fields. The giant energy company also plans to sell off all of its Gulf of Mexico and international assets. And direct the proceeds to its high-return U.S. and Canadian onshore portfolio and also reduce debt.

There are speculations as to who would be interested in purchasing DVN's assets. The New York Times’ Dealbook speculates that this deal might get some attention from the Chinese. One company that may be interested would be China National Offshore Oil Corporation, known as Cnooc. Recently, the company agreed to buy a stake in some of Statoil’s Gulf assets. This is the first time that a Chinese organisation would take an ownership interest in energy assets in the United States.

Larry Nichols, chairman and chief executive officer of the company expantiating on DVN's decision stated, "Devon's success has led to an overabundance of opportunities . And this repositioning will allow us to optimize value for our shareholders. We do not believe that the value of our high-quality Gulf and international assets is being adequately reflected in our stock price. By monetizing these assets, we will realize their full value, allowing us to unleash the growth potential that resides within our world-class onshore assets."

"Following the divestitures, Devon will be uniquely positioned to deliver high organic growth on a sustainable basis, funded entirely with internally generated funds. Furthermore, we expect Devon to emerge with an even stronger balance sheet and one of the lowest overall cost structures in our peer group," Nichols added.

Devon believes that a strategic re-alignment of their focus would increase their cash flow, production and reserves as early as 2011.