Article of interest.Marts partner Midwestern Oil and Gas mentioned in possible Shell land Sale.
Chika Amanze-Nwachuku
10 January 2011
Oil giant Shell last year offered four of its oilfields in the Niger Delta said to have valued at between $150 million to $2 billion for sale.
THISDAY had reported that the oil giant selected a few local companies from among the 30 local firms that submitted expression of interest in the deal. It was learnt that to qualify, the companies had to prove they had the financial and technical means to implement a development plan for the fields, some of which are shut in. Sources familiar with the deal had hinted that Midwestern Oil and Gas, Niger Delta Petroleum Resources and Setplat Petroleum were among the companies that expressed interests in the oil blocks.
However, a report yesterday by Sunday Times of London stated that Nat Rothschild, scion of the banking dynasty, was backing one group of bidders, while Russian gas giant, Gazprom was leading a bid with Nigerian resources firm Equinox Group.
The report, which quoted an unnamed source close to the deal, said London-listed oil industry services group Petrofac has joined forces with Nigerian gas firm, Seven Energy to bid for one of the blocks being sold, while London-listed oil group Afren Plc also plans to make an offer.
Shell
Bonga, Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel. FPSO, Bonga field offshore Nigeria 2005.
Another bidding group, the report added, includes London-based oil firm Perenco, Nigerian oil and gas company, Oando and Addax & Oryx, which is controlled by billionaire Jean Claude Gandur. In the lsit of interested bidders is Sweden's Lundin family, which the newspaper said is working with logistics firm Intels Nigeria.
Shell is planning to sell four onshore fields along with its partners Total and Eni. The onshore blocks located in the Southern Nigeria, according to sources familiar with the deal include Oil Mining Leases (OMLs 26, 30, 34, 40 and 42), some of which contain reserves of up to 2 billion barrels. Also to be sold with oil blocks are the facilities located in that region where the industry has faced repeated militant attacks.