Argentina's Bridas To Have Say Before BP Sells Unit - Source

1st Jul 2010 21:43

By Taos Turner Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES BUENOS AIRES (Dow Jones)--Argentine oil and gas company Bridas Energy Holdings, or BEH, would have an important say in any move by U.K. oil giant BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) to sell its 60% stake in Argentine unit Pan American Energy. BP has said it wants to raise $10 billion from the sale of assets as it scrambles to cover the costs related to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The company hasn't specified which assets might be sold, but several reports have suggested one would be Pan American Energy, Argentina's fastest-growing oil-and-gas company. Reports have put the value of BP's 60% stake at around $9 billion. BEH has the right of first refusal should BP decide to sell its Pan American stake, according to a person familiar with the legal relationship between BP, Bridas and Pan American. Earlier Thursday, Sky TV reported that BP is in talks with China National Offshore Oil Corporation Limited, or Cnooc (CEO, 0883.HK), to sell most of its 60% stake in the Argentine oil company. In March, Cnooc said it had agreed to buy half of Bridas Corp., which owns the other 40% of Pan American, from BEH. Cnooc said it would pay $3.1 billion for the stake. But if Cnooc wanted to buy BP's stake in Pan American, it would first need BEH's approval, the person said. BEH "decides who it wants as a partner in Pan American," the person said. "Whatever BP and/or Cnooc do or don't do, it will always depend on the previous knowledge and approval from BEH. Anything beyond that is just speculation." BEH, founded by Argentina's Bulgheroni family, didn't respond to a request for comment, while Pan American referred questions to BP, which has declined to comment. If BEH doesn't make its own offer or doesn't make one acceptable to BP, BP would then need to draw up a short list of potential buyers and submit it to BEH, which could veto up to 50% of the companies on the list, the person said. If BP wanted to accept an offer from one of the remaining companies on the list, it would still have to give BEH an opportunity to match the offer, the person said. -By Taos Turner, Dow Jones Newswires; 5411-4103-6728; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 01, 2010 16:43 ET (20:43 GMT)