The BP logo is seen at a BP gas station in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 24, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

(Reuters) -BP has agreed to sell minority stakes in some of its U.S. onshore pipeline assets in the Permian and Eagle Ford basins to investment firm Sixth Street for $1.5 billion, it said on Monday.

The sale is part of a $20 billion divestment programme aimed at bringing debt levels down that the group is running to end-2027, and comes as BP reviews its oil and gas portfolio and cuts costs.

UBS analyst Josh Stone called the announcement a "small positive" which is expected to bring BP's leverage ratio down about 1%, with a net income impact of around $100 million to $200 million.

BP has been under pressure from investors and became the target of activist investor Elliott after an ill-fated foray into renewables hit profitability.

Once the sale is completed, BP's U.S. onshore oil and gas business, bpx energy, will hold a 51% stake in the Permian assets and 25% in the Eagle Ford assets.

BP is scheduled to report third-quarter results on November 4.

(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Jan Harvey)