The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is exploring a purchase of a significant minority stake in the $4 billion-plus Sangomar oil project off the coast of Senegal from Woodside Petroleum, according to sources in the know.

State-owned ONGC is discussing acquiring an interest of 20 per cent to 40 per cent in the field, the sources said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. Australia-based Woodside is working with Jefferies Financial Group on the sale, which could also attract other suitors, they said.

Deliberations are ongoing and there’s no certainty they’ll result in a deal, according to them. Representatives for Jefferies and Woodside declined to comment, while a spokesperson for ONGC Videsh, ONGC’s overseas investment arm, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sangomar field

Woodside has built its position in the Sangomar field through a series of stake purchases. Earlier this year, it bought FAR’s participating interest after exercising its right to match an offer made by ONGC. That took its stake in the project to 82 per cent, with the remainder held by the Senegalese government. Woodside acquired Cairn Energy’s stake in Sangomar last year.

Also see: Petronet LNG and ONGC Videsh are said to discuss buying Arctic LNG 2 stake

Senegal has been attracting oil and gas companies on the hunt for new resources. Cairn drilled the first deep-water wells in Sangomar in 2014, making one of the largest oil finds globally that year. Dallas-based Kosmos Energy then made a series of major offshore gas discoveries starting in 2016.

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