CNPC, Sinopec in joint bid for Peruvian oil and gas firm Petro-Tech
19 Aug 2008
Two Chinese firms, China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) and the Sinopec Group, have made a joint bid for up to $2.5 billion for the oil and gas assets of Peruvian company Petro-Tech Peruana.
Offshore driller Petro-Tech Peruana has eight exploration licences and, according to sources, has made Peru's first ever offshore oil discovery.
Petro-Tech, which is owned by Houston-based Offshore International Group, was up for sale and it was not known whether there are any other bidders for the South American oil explorer.
Newspaper reports, meanwhile, said in January that Royal Dutch Shell Plc was interested in buying the firm.
Petro-Tech has licences to prospect in shallow Peruvian offshore waters covering an more than 5 million acres. It produces just 22,000 barrels of oil per day against even greater potential.
In June, the company struck natural gas at Block Z-2B, 7.5 km off the northern coast in Piura, close to its San Pedro field, which was discovered in 2005. The two fields have reserves estimated at up to 1.2 trillion cubic feet and they could cost up to $120 million to develop.
China, which has been lying low after a flurry of overseas acquisitions of natural resources, mainly oil and iron ore, now appears to have slowed acquisitions with the tapering off of bigger and valuable assets.
Peru has proven natural gas reserves of more than 13.4 trillion cubic feet and the government is looking for investors to help boost output of both oil and gas.