Energy

Cnooc, Sinochem said to bid on Statoil Brazil field

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-05-14 09:46

Cnooc Ltd, China's biggest offshore energy explorer, and Sinochem Group may separately bid as much as $3 billion for a 40 percent stake in a Brazilian oil field owned by Norway's Statoil ASA, two people with knowledge of the companies' plans said.

The stake in the Peregrino field off the Brazilian coast may fetch $2.5 billion to $3 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified because the process is confidential. Statoil, Norway's largest oil and gas producer, has told potential buyers to tender an offer by today, they said.

Chief Financial Officer Eldar Saetre said in November that Statoil is considering cutting its stake in Peregrino to reduce risk and build funds for the development of other projects. The Stavanger-based company, which has operations in 40 countries, took control of the oilfield in March 2008 after buying the remaining 50 percent from Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

John Olaisen, an analyst at Carnegie ASA in Oslo, said fetching $3 billion for a 40 percent stake would value the field at $7.5 billion. "That's 20 percent more than we valued it at," he said in an interview.

Kjersti Tvedt Morstoel, a spokeswoman with Statoil in Oslo, declined to comment when contacted by phone last night. Jiang Yongzhi, Cnooc's Beijing-based spokesman, didn't respond to calls to his office or mobile phone. Hu Hongjun, Sinochem Group's Beijing-based spokesman, didn't pick up calls made to his office or mobile phone.

Statoil targets crude oil output at Peregrino in early 2011 and will start drilling wells in the first half of next year. The field, 85 kilometers (53 miles) off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, has an estimated 460 million barrels of recoverable oil, company spokeswoman Mari Dotterud said on Oct 20.

Statoil, which has operating rights on about 80 percent of Norway's oil and gas production, is expanding abroad to counter dwindling North Sea reserves. The company is 67 percent owned by the Norwegian government.