Occidental Petroleum Corp has failed in its bid to sell a stake in its Middle East business, according to news site, Bloomberg. The company now plans to sell some assets piece by piece.
The oil and gas producer had said in October last year that it planned to sell a minority stake in its Middle East and North African operations as part of a restructuring programme to lift its valuation.
Reuters in early December reported that three state-owned Gulf firms, including Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Co , Qatar Petroleum and Oman Oil Co, were considering a joint bid for the unit, in a deal that could be worth between $8 billion and $10 billion.
Occidental may get as much as $1 billion for smaller, partial sales, one of the people told Bloomberg.
“We continue to make progress on our discussions with our partners in the Middle East for the sale of a portion of our interests in the region,” Occidental spokeswoman Melissa Schoeb said.
Mubadala Development, Qatar Petroleum and Oman Oil could not be reached for comment outside regular business hours.
