Egypt Oil and Gas Assets. Bouyant M and A27 Feb 2020 12:14
More M and A activity in the Egyptian Oil and Gas sector
by Energy Egypt
Apache Corp, Pharos Energy among bidders for Shell's Egypt onshore assets: sources.
Royal Dutch Shell’s onshore Egyptian oil and gas assets have drawn interest from American, Egyptian, Asian and Middle East bidders, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Shell launched a process at the end of November to sell its onshore upstream assets in the Western Desert to focus on expanding its Egyptian offshore gas exploration.
It appointed investment bank Citigroup to run the sale, which could fetch around $1 billion, a source close to the process told Reuters in November.
The oil major’s Western Desert portfolio includes stakes in 19 oil and gas leases of which Shell’s working interest included output of around 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day last year, Reuters reported at the time.
U.S. oil and gas producer Apache Corp, Egyptian firms Apex International Energy and Cheiron, and London-listed Pharos Energy submitted bids, said the two sources close to the deal, declining to be named as the matter is not public.
There were other Asian and Middle Eastern bidders too, they said. One of the sources said all the bids were non-binding.
Shell, Citi, Apex, Apache and Pharos declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Cheiron did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The second phase will see companies short-listed for due-diligence and binding offers, one of the sources said.
The transaction could take a long time, both sources said, citing weaker gas prices and a lengthy process in Egypt since such assets require government approvals.
The second source said the deal was unlikely to close before May.
Apache, Apex, Cheiron among bidders for Shell’s onshore assets: US oil and gas producer Apache, Egyptian firms Apex International Energy, Cheiron, and London-listed Pharos Energy have submitted bids for Shell’s onshore oil and gas assets in Egypt, Reuters reports, citing informed sources. Other undisclosed Asian and Middle Eastern companies have also made offers, the sources said. The transaction could take longer than expected to close due to weaker gas prices and the government’s lengthy approval process for the sale of such assets, according to the sources.
Background: Shell launched the sale process at the end of November to sell its onshore upstream assets in the Western Desert to focus on expanding its Egyptian offshore gas exploration efforts, appointing investment bank Citigroup to run the sale that could fetch around USD 1 bn. Shell’s portfolio in the Western Desert includes stakes in 19 oil and gas assets including the Badr El Din and Obaiyed area, as well as the North East Abu El Gharadig, West Sitra, Bed 1 gas, and West Alam El Shawish concessions. Reuters’ report noted that they produced 100k boe/d last year.
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