WSJ: Noble Energy Plans China Oilfield Stake Sale

Feb 21 (Reuters) - Noble Energy Inc has hired merger-advisory firm Lazard Ltd to sell its majority stake in an oil field it owns with Sinopec just off northeastern China, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

According to one source, the U.S. oil and gas producer could sell its stake for between $200 million and $300 million, the newspaper reported.

Noble Energy and Lazard were unavailable for immediate comment to Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.

Noble holds a 57 percent stake in the Chengdaoxi field, which currently produces about 4,000 barrels a day of crude oil, the Journal said. State-controlled China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, known as Sinopec, holds the remaining stake.

Roc Oil Co, a medium-size Australian oil and gas producer, is a prospective bidder for Noble's stake, the paper reported. Noble's stake has attracted interest from a wide field that includes other medium-size energy companies.

Roc Oil too couldn't be reached by Reuters for immediate comment.

Noble said earlier this month in a statement that its production-sharing contract in China would expire in 2018 and that it was negotiating to sell its Chinese assets, the Journal said.