Dhaka (Platts)--29Jan2013/537 am EST/1037 GMT

US-based Longwood Resources is in talks with Tullow Oil to buy the latter's assets in Bangladesh, a source at Tullow said Tuesday.

This followed recent Pakistani media reports that state-owned Pakistan Petroleum's offer to buy all of Tullow's Asian assets -- located in Bangladesh and Pakistan -- may have hit a snag.

During a meeting by Pakistan's Economic Coordination Committee in early December, the country's petroleum ministry faced criticism from other ministries for allowing Pakistan Petroleum to make an offer for Tullow's assets, The Express Tribune reported on December 15. The criticism centered around the fact that Pakistan Petroleum was looking to develop assets abroad, at a time when Pakistan itself was trying to attract investment in its upstream sector, according to the report.

The status of Pakistan Petroleum's offer is not clear.

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Tullow Oil is planning to divest all of its Asian assets to focus on its huge Jubilee discovery offshore Ghana and exploration in South America and Africa.

In Bangladesh, Tullow has a 30% stake in the Bangora gas field, located in Block 9 in the Comilla district. The field -- which is also owned by Canada-based Niko Resources (60%) and state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd. (10%) -- is currently producing around 84,000 Mcf/d of gas, according to data from state-owned Petrobangla.

In Pakistan, Tullow has exploration, development and production interests across seven licenses spanning 13,171 sq km (4,215 sq miles).

Separately, Longwood Resources has partnered China's state-owned Sinopec Shengli to drill four onshore gas structures in Bangladesh under a joint venture with Bapex, the latter's managing director, Mortuza Ahmad Faruque, told Platts Tuesday.

The structures -- Kotia, Joldi, Kafalong and Shitapara -- are located in Block 22, which spans 13,900 sq km in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region.

The joint venture will be held 70% by the Sinopec Shengli-Longwood Resources consortium and 30% by Bapex. It has yet to receive approval from Bangladesh's government, said Faruque. Further details are not known.

--M Azizur Rahman, newsdesk@platts.com
--Edited by Deepa Vijiyasingam, deepa_vijiyasingam@platts.com

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