Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) has extended for a second time the deadline for investors to accept its $1.9 billion offer for East Africa-focused gas explorer Cove Energy, the company announced Monday.
Previously, on June 25, PTTEP announced that it was extending its offer until July 6. The offer has now been extended again until 1 p.m. (London time) on July 13, 2012, the company said.
The Thai company's offer for Cove remains $100 million greater than
that of rival suitor Royal Dutch Shell, which upped its own offer for Cove to $1.8 billion in April after having offered $1.6 billion for the company in February. Shell's offer is valid until July 11.
Cove – whose shares are quoted on London's Alternative Investment Market – holds an 8.5-percent stake in the
Rovuma offshore basin in Mozambique. The area is being explored – with plenty of success so far – by operator Anadarko for significant natural gas resources that both Shell and PTTEP believe would be suitable for LNG projects.
Asian countries are actively seeking LNG and have recently ramped up on their efforts to gain a foothold in emerging natural gas markets in regions such as Australia and Africa.
"Countries like Japan, China, Malaysia and Thailand need the gas," Peter Kiernan, lead analyst for the energy division of the Economist Intelligence Unit, told Rigzone recently.
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