Noble Energy has hired in¬vestment bank Lazard Ltd to help arrange the sale of its majority stake in a small oilfield that it owns with Sinopec off northeastern China. It has been reported earlier that Houston-based Noble could raise between $200 mil¬lion and $300 million by selling its 57 percent stake in the Chengdaoxi field.
The stake had attracted interest from a wide field that included other medium-sized energy companies but Australian oil and gas producer Roc Oil Co is among favorites amongst the pro¬spective bidders for Noble’s holding.
Sinopec, Chinese-state-controlled Corporation holds the remaining stake in the field, which is classified as an onshore project because it is in waters less than 5 meters deep. The field, which has been pumping oil for decades, produces about 4,000 barrels of crude per day.
Many U.S. oil companies have been divesting overseas assets to raise funds to develop shale projects at home.
Noble agreed earlier in February to sell part of its stake in the huge Leviathan natural gas project in Israel to Australia’s Woodside Petroleum Ltd for $1.03 billion in cash and future revenues.
