Ghana National Petroleum Corp (GNPC) remains interested in buying Kosmos Energy’s stake in the giant Jubilee oil field, a source said on Thursday, two days after sources close to the matter said Exxon Mobil had clinched a multi-billion-dollar deal for the asset.

“We are still pursuing that and we are very hopeful of reaching an agreement (with Kosmos),” the GNPC source said on condition of anonymity.

Sources earlier in the week told Reuters that Exxon Mobil had reached a deal with private equity-backed Kosmos to buy the stake in the Jubilee field, one of the largest oil finds in West Africa in the past decade.

A Ghanaian government source told Reuters on Wednesday that Ghana had been studying the proposed deal, which some analysts said could be worth $5 billion, to ensure “it is the best offer not only in monetary terms” but also to ensure it provides good technical expertise.

There are still many unknowns about the deal, some of which could ultimately lead to Ghana controlling part or all of Kosmos’ stake in Jubilee, U.S.-based analysts said.

“There may or may not be preemptory rights,” Mark Gilman, energy analyst at The Benchmark Co, said. “Even if they are not built in, we’re dealing with a sovereign nation.”

Ghana will look for ways to maximize its economic benefit from the project, with the field’s potential being a potent lure.

Pavel Molchanov, oil analyst at Raymond James, said it would be difficult for Ghana to raise the billions of funds needed to buy Kosmos’ entire stake and said Exxon would likely take part in some way.

“It would be a very large purchase for a very small economy,” Molchanov said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out. I suspect there will be a role for Exxon in some way.”

Any deal would need to be vetted by the Ghanaian government.

Ghana suggested earlier this year GNPC could be interested in acquiring Kosmos’ stake in the field, but analysts said it was unlikely that the state-run company had deep enough pockets.

Kosmos has 30.875 percent ownership in the West Cape Three Points block and an 18 percent interest in the Deepwater Tano block offshore Ghana.

GNPC itself has a 10 percent stake in the West Cape three Points and Deepwater Tano concession areas, plus a 3.75 percent additional stake in the Jubilee field straddling the two concession areas, according to its website.

A Kosmos official was not immediately available.

source: reuters

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