Reports have 18 consortia looking to bid on assets in Nigeria being sold by Shell, Total and ENI. A Sunday Times report said that a number of the groups interested in the assets are private investors. The assets are a group of four onshore blocks in southern Nigeria that Shell has struggled to keep going for years in the face of sabotage by militant groups.
One of the groups is comprised of Perenco, Oando, and Addax & Oryx, while another is made up of Russian gas giant Gazprom and Nigerian firm Equinox Group. Petrofac, teamed up with Nigeria’s Seven Energy, is also said to be one of the interested firms.
The report also said that billionaire Nat Rothschild wants to back an unnamed group of companies and that Afren is planning an offer after its success in buying a Shell stake in October 2010. The assets will cost at least $4 billion.
