Russia's OAO Gazprom Neft (SIBN.RS), the oil arm of state-controlled gas giant OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS), wants to buy a 49% stake in Kazakh oil producer AO MangistauMunaigas, the company said late Thursday.
Gazprom Neft's Chief Executive Alexander Dyukov expressed his interest in the company Wednesday during a meeting with the head of Kazakhstan's state oil and gas company Kazmunaigas, or KMG, which last week said it had agreed to buy a controlling stake in MangistauMunaigas.
ManigstauMunaigas holds 36 oil and gas fields, 15 of which are being developed. The Metropol investment bank values the company at $2.5 billion.
Its two largest oil fields - Kalamkas and Zhetybai - have 128.9 million metric tons of oil and account for 88.8% of MangistauMunaigas' recoverable reserves, the Kazakh government said in December.
The company also holds 58% of the Pavlodar oil refinery, KMG said.