Itochu Corp, Mitsui & Co to bid for Tullow Oil’s stake in Ghana offshore oil project

Japanese trading firms Itochu Corp and Mitsui & Co are planning to bid for Africa-focused oil and gas explorer Tullow Oil's stake in Ghana offshore oil project called TEN, The Wall Street Journal yesterday reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Tullow, which recently sold fields in Bangladesh and Pakistan, has been seeking to sell its UK Tullow and Dutch assets in the North Sea and part of its stake in the TEN deposit in offshore Ghana in order to reduce streamline its asset portfolio and costs.

Tullow plans to sell 17 to 20 per cent of its 47.15 per cent stake in the Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme offshore oil project, known as TEN,  valued at about $600 million, the report said.

The expected $4.9 billion cost of developing this project have weighed on its stock price, the report added.

The TEN fields are located in the deepwater Tano licence which covers an area of more than 800 sq km, and lies around 20km west of Tullow's Jubilee field.

Tullow is the operator of TEN with 47.15 per cent stake, while Kosmos Energy and Anadarko Petroleum hold 17 per cent each, Sabre Oil & Gas Holdings Ltd with 3.85 per cent and Ghana National Petroleum Corp with 15 per cent.

Tullow expects first oil to commence in 2016 with production in the region of 80,000 bopd.