Nigeria Content Online

Ghana National
Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has given up efforts to buy a stake in the
Jubilee oil field held by Kosmos Energy following the U.S firm’s
decision not to sell, its chairman said on Thursday.

While state-owned
GNPC’s move to end its interest in Kosmos was expected, it will be seen
as significant by investors concerned that the bitter wrangling over
the Kosmos stake was a sign of state interference in the ownership of
oil assets.

Kosmos, backed by
private equity firms Blackstone Group and Warburg Pincus , owns a 23.49
percent stake in the offshore oilfield, operated by Britain’s Tullow
Oil and holding at least 1.5 billion barrels of light crude.

Last August the
firm called off what sources close to the deal said was a $4 billion
pact to sell the stake to ExxonMobil after resistance from GNPC, which
later made a $5 billion joint bid with Chinese oil giant CNOOC.

However Kosmos has
subsequently said the asset is not for sale and announced plans to
raise up to $500 million via an initial public offering of its shares
in the United States.

“That chapter of
GNPC wanting to increase its stake is closed … Kosmos wants to do an
IPO and it is within their rights to do so,” GNPC chairman At Ahwoi
told a news conference.

“I don’t think we
can force them to sell to us at all cost if they don’t want to do so.
So as far as we’re concerned that ends the matter,” he said, adding
that Ghana would still be interested should Kosmos ever put its stake
on the market.

He said GNPC and CNOOC had been partnered in their bid by London-listed BP.

Ghana on Wednesday
lifted a first crude entitlement of 995,259 barrels from Jubilee,
estimated to fetch about $110 million dollars for the state treasury.
Pricing was based on a benchmark of around $110 dollars.

Ghana was fourth to
lift its entitlement after Tullow, Kosmos and Anadarko together lifted
about 3.7 million barrels. GNPC chief executive Nana Boakye Asafo-Adjei
said the first shipment was sold to Sun International, a subsidiary of
U.S.-based Sunoco Inc.

He said in addition to the crude entitlements, Ghana will also receive quarterly tax payments from the Jubilee partners.

Asafo-Adjei said
daily production from the Jubilee field will normalise at 120,000
barrels in June-July, from about 70,000 barrels currently.