((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
(Adds that Apache declined to comment) by Ron Bousso, Sabrina Valle and Sergio Goncalves
More than 12 oil companies, including Exxon, Shell and Brazil’s national oil company, have expressed interest in buying a 40 percent stake in Galp Energia’s GALP.LS major oil discovery offshore Namibia, people familiar with the sale process said.
Galp’s Mopane discovery, which is expected to contain at least 10 billion barrels of oil and gas equivalent, could be valued at more than $10 billion, according to some estimates.
In April, Galp launched the process of selling half of its 80% stake in oil exploration license 83 (PEL 83), as well as the right to become its operator.
More than a dozen companies, including Exxon Mobil XOM.N , Chevron CVX.N , Shell SHEL.L , TotalEnergies TTEF.PA , Brazil’s Petrobras PETR4.SA , Australia’s Woodside Energy
WDS.AX and US producer Apache Energy have signed agreements to access geological data from the deposit, four sources said.
A number of companies also made indicative, non-binding offers for the stake late last month, they said.
The identities of the bidders and their offers were unclear. Most of the companies are expected to offer an upfront cash payment to Galp and cover the Lisbon-listed company’s share of the development of the field, the sources said.
A decision on developing the field depends on continued exploration and appraisal work, they added.
Galp, Chevron, Shell, TotalEnergies and Apache declined to comment. Exxon and Woodside did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Petrobras declined to comment on the bidding process, but said it was “evaluating opportunities to increase oil reserves, including offshore Africa.”
Namibia’s national oil and gas company, Namcor, which operates the oil data centre on behalf of the government, declined to comment.
Namibia, which produces neither oil nor gas, has attracted keen interest from international energy companies in recent years following a series of discoveries by TotalEnergies, Shell and Galp.
No company has yet decided whether to move forward with developing a field, although TotalEnergies has said it expects to make a decision by the end of the year.
The strong interest in developing a new basin shows that the industry expects demand for oil and gas to remain strong for years to come, even as the world seeks to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.
