PetroSA in talks to buy Sabre Oil Ghana assets
Friday, 13 July 2012
South Africa's PetroSA is in talks to buy assets in Ghana from Sabre Oil and Gas, including a stake in the lucrative Jubilee field, the head of the government-owned oil group said on Thursday.
Under new leadership since March, PetroSA has become more aggressive about new projects, scouting Africa for oil and gas and buying downstream assets to diversify its revenue beyond a gas-to-liquids plant in South Africa.
"We hope to conclude (the Sabre deal) in the near-term future," Nosizwe Nocawe Nokwe told Reuters in an interview, but declined to disclose the potential value of the deal.
Nokwe said the group was also in talks with Italian oil major Eni SpA to possibly participate in its offshore Mozambique project, where Eni has made significant gas discoveries expected to turn Mozambique into a key gas exporter.
PetroSA may also participate in the next bidding round for blocks expected in Mozambique towards the end of the year.
"In our upstream strategy we are looking at access to near-producing blocks. We are constantly looking at opportunities ... either by acquisitions or bidding for acreage," she said.
PetroSA is also in preliminary talks with Mozambique to build a gas-to-liquids plant, which could be supplied by the offshore fields, although Mozambique will have to decide whether to pursue the project or any of the other ventures proposed by investors eager to benefit from its gas and mining boom.
