BY TEE LIN SAY
LINSAY@THESTAR.COM.MY
PETALING JAYA: SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd, Talisman and Petrofac have been shortlisted for the second round of Newfield Exploration Co’s oil and gas assets in Malaysia and China, said sources close to the deal.
Last week, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd confirmed that it had been shortlisted for this two-round bidding process, where the second-round bids are expected to be submitted by Sept 26. The source added that the results for the winning bidder should be known by year-end. Goldman Sachs Group Inc is the investment banker mandated to manage this bidding process. It would appear that only a handful of companies out of the 65 companies that had initially expressed interest for Newfield’s assets worth some US$1.7bil have been selected for the second round.
On Feb 13, Newfield, which is the fourth-largest oil producer in Malaysia, said that it was exploring the sale of its international assets, which include offshore holdings in Malaysia and China.
Newfield owns its Malaysian assets via two wholly owned subsidiaries, Newfield Peninsula Malaysia Inc and Newfield Sarawak Malaysia Inc. The Malaysian assets delivered some US$400mil (RM1.24bil) of pre-tax profit in 2012. The source added that come SapuraKencana’s third-quarter results on July 31, 2013, it would see its maiden and meaningful contribution from its first risk sharing contract (RSC), the Berantai field, off Terengganu.
