Bidding war for Kosmos Energy’s Ghana assets continues

China’s CNOOC and Ghana National Petroleum Corp have made a higher bid than Exxon Mobil for the assets of Kosmos Energy LLC, including a stake in the Jubilee field. CNOOC and GNPC bid $5 billion, compared to the $4 billion Exxon bid, for the assets, which are currently owned by private equity firms Blackstone and Warburg Pincus.

(Reuters) – China’s CNOOC and Ghana National Petroleum Corp (GNPC) have bid $5 billion for Kosmos Energy LLC’s assets in the West African state, including its stake in the Jubilee field, a source close to the deal said on Friday.

The offer tops an earlier, failed bid of more than $4 billion from Exxon Mobil for the Kosmos assets, which includes a coveted 23.49 percent stake in a large, Ghana oil discovery known as the Jubilee field.

Kosmos, backed by private equity firms Blackstone Group and Warburg Pincus, have been trying to auction off the stake for more than a year, with CNOOC a persistent bidder.
(By Michael Flaherty)