India’s ONGC taps Citi for Kosmos oil stake in Ghana

HONG KONG/MUMBAI – India’s leading oil producer ONGC has hired Citigroup to advise it on a bid for Kosmos Energy’s stake in the Jubilee oil field offshore Ghana in a deal that could be worth around US$3 billion, sources familiar with the deal said.

Private equity-backed Kosmos, which has received a total of US$800 million in financing from Blackstone and Warburg Pincus, has hired Standard Chartered and Barclays Plc to sell its stakes in the Jubilee oil field.Texas-based Kosmos has interests across Ghana, Benin, Cameroon, Morocco and Nigeria, including the Jubilee Field in Ghana’s deep waters.Jubilee, one of the largest oil finds in West Africa in the past decade, is predicted to hold 1,2 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The entire field is valued at around US$15 billion.ONGC is not Asia’s only bidder for Kosmos’ coveted stake.China’s top offshore oil and gas producer, CNOOC, has hired Goldman Sachs to advise it on its bid for the stake.’ONGC is looking for a partner in its bid,’ one of the sources told Reuters. All three sources declined to be identified because they were not authorised to speak publicly about the matter.Citigroup declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. ONGC representatives were not immediately available for comment.-Nampa-Reuters