Singapore: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is bidding for a stake in a Nigerian offshore field with an estimated value of $1 billion as it aims to boost its overseas energy reserves.
The stake in the yet to be developed Akpo oil and gas field was put up for sale earlier this year by Nigerian firm South Atlantic Petroleum Ltd., which is controlled by former Nigerian Defence Minister Theophilus Danjuma.
The deepwater field, operated by French oil company Total SA, is calling for billions of dollars in capital expenditure for development.
Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer and the world's eighth-largest oil exporter that produces 2.4 million barrels per day.
Thursday was the deadline for interested parties to submit their bids. It is not immediately clear who the other bidders are, although there is talk that a couple of Chinese state oil companies have looked at the asset.
Interest in the Nigerian auction has been helped by major offshore discoveries in West Africa in the past few years and by the recent strong bidding for oil assets in the North Sea and the US Gulf of Mexico.
Earlier this month, Nigeria signed an agreement with ONGC Mittal Energy Limited, a joint venture between ONGC and Mittal Steel to give oil exploration rights in return for up to $6 billion in infrastructure investment.
The Akpo field was discovered in 2000 and is located 200 kilometres offshore in water depths ranging from 1,100 to 1,700 metres.
Energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie estimates Akpo has condensate reserves of over 600 million barrels and commercial natural gas reserves of 2.5 trillion cubic feet.
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