6 Dez 2017 Jahr - Exclusive: China's Sinopec looking to sell Nigeria business - sources

Beschreibung:

LONDON/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China’s Sinopec Group has hired BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) to sell its oil business in Nigeria and Gabon, three people with knowledge of the matter said, as the state-owned oil giant pares back its presence in Africa.

Sinopec and other oil groups including China National Petroleum Corporation and CNOOC (0883.HK) made large acquisitions between 2009 and 2013 with the help of low-cost loans from Chinese state-owned banks.

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The hunt for overseas assets was intended to bulk up their energy reserves and meet future demand from China, the world’s second-largest economy.

But oil prices fell to about $27 a barrel in 2016 from more than $100 in 2014, making some of these investments unprofitable. Benchmark Brent Crude oil LCOc1 is now trading at more than $60.

Militants have also recently attacked oil and gas facilities in Nigeria, further discouraging Sinopec. China’s economy, which was growing strongly when the company expanded, has also slowed.

“Sinopec is trying to sever ties,” one of the people told Reuters. “It has hired BNP to sell (its) assets in Nigeria and Gabon.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-sinopec-divestiture-exclusive/exclusive-chinas-sinopec-looking-to-sell-nigeria-business-sources-idUSKBN1E01LN