South Korea's national oil company is interested in buying a stake in Ghana's giant Jubilee oil field, the Korean firm and Ghana's state oil agency said on Friday.
"They have expressed interest in everything -- exploration, production and all the potential downstream activities," said Thomas Manu, director of production at Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
Discussions between the two parties were at a preliminary stage, he told Reuters after a delegation from Korea met Ghanaian officials.
"Korea National Oil (Corp) is interested in participating in exploration and also in Kosmos' assets," said KNOC President and Chief Executive Young-won Kang.
GNPC is in protracted talks to buy the Jubilee stake owned by privately-held Kosmos Energy. A Ghanaian government source said in February the government wants to block a reported deal for Kosmos to sell its interest in the field to Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) for $4 billion.
"(The Koreans) have expressed interest in buying a portion of it if we acquire it," Manu said.
Jubilee, forecast to begin producing later this year, has recoverable reserves of 800 million barrels, Ghana's Energy Minister Jospeh Oteng-Adjei said last month.
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