Marathon Sells Offshore Angola Stake On Friday, July 17, integrated oil major Marathon Oil Corporation (MRO) announced the sale of its 20% interest in a block offshore Angola for $1.3 billion. A subsidiary of Marathon has reached an agreement with Chinese oil companies CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) and Sinopec (SNP). The transaction is expected to close by year-end 2009, subject to government and regulatory approvals. Per the deal, CNOOC and Sinopec will form a 50-50 venture to buy the stake in the subsea Angolan oilfield located some 150 kilometers off the country's coast in a water depth of 1400 to 2200 meters. Known as ‘Block 32,’ the 5,090-square-kilometer field has already yielded 12 successful exploration wells. Pursuant to the proposed sale, the Houston-based, fifth-largest refiner and marketer of petroleum products in the U.S. would retain a 10% interest in the enterprise of the 30% it ...

Angolan reforms are slowly improving and diversifying the economy. Deployment of a $1billion World Bank loan to aid in diversification, and establishment of two funds to collect oil revenues should keep things bouyant. The banking sector is looking interesting.br /br /GDP growth of 11.8% in 2009, down from 15% in 2008. One single company, Sonangol, which has a turnover of $17 billion, represents almost a third of GDP. Sonangol takes a 51% stake in all production from Cabinda, as well as from offshore concessions.