French Oil Giant Total SA has put up its offshore Usan deepwater oil field located in the Nigeria Oil Prospecting Lease (OML) 138 for sale, in a deal that could be worth about $2.5 billion, according to Reuters news agency.
The renewed push to sell the oil field comes two years after a deal with China state owned Oil and Gas Company Sinopec Corp worth the same amount fell through. Total said in November 2012 it had sold its 20 percent interest in the field to China’s Sinopec for about $2.5 billion in cash. It is not known why the sale failed. Sinopec announced today that it plans to sell a $17.5bn stake in its retail business, marking the country’s biggest privatization push since President Xi Jinping came to power almost two years ago.
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A Spokeswoman for Total says the company has selected an advisor to pursue the sale process of the oil field, Reuters says the advisor is French bank BNP Paribas, quoting a source, even as it said that the bank declined to comment.
The Usan oil field of which the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is the OML 138 concession holder, is not expected to be an easy sale for Total because deepwater exploration requires significant investment and the new owner’s returns could be limited if Nigeria rises taxes on foreign investor profits as part of a long expected sector reform to be instituted by the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
Total is working on several asset disposals to meet a $10 billion 2015 cash flow generation target, another of which is its plan to raise about $2.5 billion through the sale of its Super Glu maker Bostik. (VENTURES AFRICA)
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