Kosmos Energy Acquired DGE for $1.23 Bln
Kosmos Energy has agreed to acquire Deep Gulf Energy (DGE) from its private equity owner for $1.23 billion, according to a bourse filing on Monday, expanding the deepwater oil and gas firm's operations into the Gulf of Mexico.Dallas-based Kosmos, which currently operates in Africa and South America, will pay $925 million in cash and $300 million in Kosmos common stock to acquire DGE, with the transaction expected to close towards the end of the third quarter.Acquiring DGE's business will increase Kosmos' production by more than 50 percent to 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) from around 45,000
Petrobras to Gain $11 Bln on Sale of Brazil Oil Rights to Statoil
The sale of a stake in Carcara, the giant Brazilian offshore oil prospect, to Norway's Statoil ASA will gain Brazil's state-led oil company Petrobras as much as $11 billion to pay debt or invest in other projects that promise to generate cash more quickly, Petrobras' chief executive said on Tuesday. Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is formally known, sold its 66 percent stake in the prospect in July for $2.5 billion. But the sale will also free it from the need to invest its share of the area's estimated $12 billion to $13 billion development cost, CEO Pedro Parente told reporters in Stavanger, Norway.
Barra to Study Buying Petrobras Asset Sold to Statoil
Brazil's Barra Energia do Brasil Petróleo e Gás, which owns 10 percent of the giant Carcara offshore oil prospect, will study invoking its right of first refusal over Petrobras' sale of its 66 percent stake in the area to Norway's Statoil, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Friday. Earlier on Friday Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is known, said it agreed to sell its stake in the BM-S-8 license block, home to Carcara, to Statoil for $2.5 billion. Barra is part owned by two U.S. investment funds Riverstone Holdings LLC and First Reserve Corp.
Statoil buys Petrobras stake in Brazil oil find
Statoil aims to offset declining output from mature fields. Norway's Statoil agreed on Friday to buy Petrobras' stake in an exploration licence off Brazil for $2.5 billion, a rare deal in an oil industry struggling with low prices. The purchase of the 66 percent stake from Brazil's state-led Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) will help Statoil secure future production as output from its mature fields declines. The deal, Statoil's biggest in several years, will give it the bulk of oil and gas resources in the key Carcará field…
First Reserve Draws Bids for Italian Solar Plants
Private equity firm First Reserve has put up for sale a number of solar plants in Italy with a combined capacity of 101 megawatts drawing bids each worth around 100 million euros ($110 mln), several sources close to the matter said. First Reserve is selling Italy's San Bellino plant, the country's biggest photovoltaic plant located in the north-eastern Veneto region, with an installed 70.5 MW capacity, and other assets. The winning bid will be selected by July 27, the sources said. One of the sources said Tages Capital was one of the suitors…
Oil Rig Helicopter Crashes off Norway, 13 Presumed Dead
A helicopter ferrying passengers from a Norwegian oil platform crashed in the North Sea on Friday, killing at least 11 of the 13 people on board, rescue officials said. The 11 passengers and two crew on the flight from the Gullfaks B oil platform, operated by Statoil, were all Norwegian except for one British and one Italian national, according to the Rescue Coordination Centre for Southern Norway. "The helicopter is completely destroyed," it said. After several hours searching for survivors, 11 bodies were found and the remaining two people were presumed dead.
KKR Launches Loan to Buy Pemex Assets
Bankers launched a US$1.35bn loan this week to finance KKR's purchase of Pemex assets at spreads marking a sharp contrast to what the Mexican oil company paid a little over a year ago. The funding package, which largely comprises term loans, is offering a US$280m five-year tranche at Libor plus 200bp, a US$745m 10-year at plus 250bp and a US$225m 12-year at plus 275bp. There is also a US$100m five-year revolver paying a spread of Libor plus 200bp. Such levels are a good 100bp wide to the 85bp Pemex paid on a five-year term loan in December 2014…
Pemex Taps Alternative Funding Source in KKR Loan
A US$1.35bn loan to finance KKR's purchase of Pemex assets could be the first of several such transactions as the Mexican state-owned oil company seeks to tap alternative funding sources. The senior secured credit facility, expected to be launched at bank meetings in Mexico City next week, will consist of five-year tranches (a term loan and a revolver) as well as 10 and 12-year term loans. Proceeds will go to fund the US private equity shop's sale-leaseback agreement to invest in 15 separate infrastructure assets, according to a source.
Oil and Gas Pipeline Company Caliber Seeks Sale
Caliber Midstream Partners LP, the owner of an oil and gas pipeline network in North Dakota, is exploring a sale that it hopes could value it at as much as $1 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the process. Caliber's owners, private equity firm First Reserve Corp and oil and gas exploration and production company Triangle Petroleum Corporation, have interviewed investment banks in recent weeks about hiring a financial advisor to help run an auction for the company, the people said. The sources asked not to be identified because the talks are confidential.
Shell Revives Plan to Sell European LPG Business
Anglo-Dutch oil group Royal Dutch Shell has appointed Credit Suisse to advise on the sale of its European liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) business, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing four people with knowledge of the decision. The business, which it previously tried to sell in 2010, could be valued at as much as 1 billion pounds ($1.63 billion) and is expected to attract bids from private equity firms as well as trade buyers, the FT said, attributing sources. The newspaper said buyout groups PAI Partners…
First Reserve to Sell 4.25% of Spain's Abengoa
Abengoa shareholder FR Alfajor Holdings, a company that groups stock owned by U.S. private equity firm First Reserve Corp., is placing about 4.25 percent of the Spanish renewable energy firm in the market, bookrunner Citi said. FR Alfajor is selling 35.7 million Abengoa Class B shares - representing about 4.25 percent of Abengoa's total shares - through an accelerated bookbuilding process, Citi said in a stock market notice on Thursday. FR Alfajor will still hold over 52.6 million Class B shares in Abengoa after the transaction, as well as other rights to buy more stock.
Britain's Petrofac gets $700 mln contract in Kuwait
British oil and gas services group Petrofac Ltd said it secured a $700 million contract from Kuwait Oil Co for a gathering centre located north of Kuwait City. The project, which includes engineering, procurement, construction, pre-commissioning and commissioning of GC29, is to be completed over three years. The gathering centre, Petrofac's 10th project in that country, will be capable of producing about 100,000 barrels of oil per day, along with water and gas, the company said in a statement.
GE Nears Deal to Sell Fuel Dispenser Unit
General Electric Co is in advanced talks to sell its energy unit that makes fuel dispensers to First Reserve Corp, according to people familiar with the matter, in the latest example of a conglomerate selling an unloved business to a buyout firm. A deal will likely value GE's unit, called Wayne, at between $500 million and $600 million, the people said this week, asking not to be identified because the talks are confidential. An agreement has not yet been signed and negotiations could still fall through, the people added. GE and First Reserve declined to comment.
Cobalt Makes Biggest Oil Find yet off Angola
U.S. firm Cobalt International Energy has discovered significant quantities of oil offshore Angola, state oil firm Sonangol said, calling the find the biggest so far in the promising pre-salt layer in the Kwanza Basin. Oil drillers hope discoveries under a deep submerged salt crust off Angola known as pre-salt may match the prolific finds beneath similar deposits off Brazil on the other side of the Atlantic in recent years. Analysts say Angola, Africa's No. 2 oil producer, could double its oil reserves, which are currently estimated at just under 13 billion barrels, if pre-salt drilling proves successful.
Total: Liquefied Gas Unit not yet For Sale
French oil major Total has not put its liquefied petroleum gas unit Totalgaz up for sale at this stage, it said on Monday, after daily Les Echos said the group had received around 10 expressions of interest from potential buyers. Investment funds such as First Reserve, Platinum, Pamplona and PAI Partners were said to be among the bidders, in addition to industry rivals like Antargaz and Primagaz, Les Echos reported, without saying where it got the information. "There is no sale process of Totalgaz at the moment," a spokesman said, adding that options for the unit were being reviewed.
French Energy Major Total to Sell LPG Unit
French oil major Total SA has put its liquefied petroleum gas unit, Totalgaz, up for sale and has received around 10 expressions of interest from potential buyers, the daily Les Echos reported on Monday. Investment funds like First Reserve, Platinum, Pamplona and PAI Partners are said to be among the bidders, in addition to industry rivals like Antargaz or Primagaz, Les Echos said, without saying where it got the information. A Total spokesman was unavailable for comment. (By Lionel Laurent; editing by Matt Driskill)
