China National Offshore (CEO) and Ghana to May Try to Outbid Exxon (XOM) for West African Oil Field

October 12, 2009 6:49 AM EDT

Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) may be in a bidding war for a West African oil field in the near future. China National Offshore Oil Corp. (NYSE: CEO) ("CNOOC") and Ghana National Petroleum Corp. ("GNPC") may try to outbid the energy giant, who has already submitted a $4 billion bid, a Wall Street Journal article said today.

The 23.5% stake is currently owned by Kosmo's Energy, and of last week they said that they had entered into and exclusive binding agreement with Exxon to sell the land to them.

At the same time, the Ghanaian government and GNPC have been trying to increase their 13.8% stake in the field.

Chinese oil have had several attempts to secure oil fields in Africa recently, with mixed results. Cnooc has tried to acquire leases held by Royal Dutch Shell plc., and Marathon Oil.

Last week, people close to the deal said that they were confident that the Ghanaian Government would approve the sale by Kosmos to Exxon, because of the foreign dollars it would bring in, as well as Exxon being a season company that would be able to stay under budget and complete the project on time.

A person familiar with the matter says that GNPC and Cnooc plan to make a bid within the next several days.

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