CNPC, Petronas Eye Angola Bids

China National Petroleum Corp and Malaysia's Petronas are considering bids for Marathon Oil Corp's stakes in two Angolan offshore oil and gas fields, people familiar with the matter said. This would be potentially the third major energy deal in Africa this year, a major new front for Asian state energy firms looking to fuel fast growing economies. Reuters estimates that at least $6 billion worth of oil and gas blocks are being sold by US independent companies, under pressure from shareholders and taking advantage of Asian interest to sell out of non-core assets. In total about $16 billion of oil and gas blocks are being sold globally, with $11 billion of that in Africa. It also signals another banner year for oil and gas M&A, after a record $345.9 billion last year. Asian firms' share has more than doubled in a decade, according to Thomson Reuters data, to 19.6 per cent in 2012 from 7.6 per cent in 2003. Sanjeev Gupta, an Ernst & Young partner and co-author of a report on oil and gas M&A, told Reuters affordability is not an issue for these large state companies because they have access to cheap government-backed funding. "The Asian national oil companies are expected to pursue overseas acquisition opportunities despite substantial economic worries and geopolitical uncertainty," said Gupta. CNPC, China's largest oil and gas company by production and the parent of listed company PetroChina, last month agreed to buy a $4.2 billion stake in a Mozambique offshore natural gas field. US oil explorer Anadarko has also put up a stake in a Mozambique field that could fetch $4.5 billion. Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Malaysia's state oil company, has also been stepping up its overseas purchases. Last year, it paid C$5.2 billion ($5.1 billion) to buy Canada's Progress Energy Resources Corp. Houston-based Marathon first laid out plans in late 2011 to divest up to $3 billion worth of assets to plough money back into other operations. (pennenergy.com, Edited by Topco)