09.02.10 Menas Associates Ghanaian government threaten to block $4 billion ExxonMobil deal

ExxonMobil Refinery, Ghana

According to 9th February press reports, the government has blocked Kosmos' proposed US$4 billion sale of its Ghana stakes to ExxonMobil. It accuses Kosmos of cutting GNPC out of discussions about the Jubilee field's development and then sharing information about the field with potential buyers without first receiving government permission.

Energy Minister Joe Oteng-Adjei said that GNPC would be the only entity allowed to buy the Kosmos stake. Last week, he apparently sent a letter to ExxonMobil informing the company that its deal with Kosmos would not receive government approval.

The letter, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, said that the government is, "unable to support an ExxonMobil acquisition of Kosmos' Ghana assets." Instead, it "supports the strategic intent and efforts of [GNPC] to acquire Kosmos' Ghana assets at a fair market value."

"We felt that it had gone far enough that we needed to make a clear-cut policy statement to [ExxonMobil's] that if they want to come into the country, let them come in through another avenue and respect our laws," Mr Oteng-Adjei said on Monday 8th February in an interview. "We want to do things right from the beginning."

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