Total Wants to Reduce Stake in Giant Kazakhstan Oilfield

France’s Total is seeking to sell part of its stake in Kazakhstan’s giant Kashagan oilfield to raise up to $4 billion, four banking sources said.
Total holds a 16.8% stake in Kashagan, one of the world’s largest oilfields with production of about 400,000 barrels per day, and is seeking to sell around a third of its stake, Reuters reported.
The company’s entire stake has an estimated value of up to $9 billion. The energy group has held talks with a Chinese national oil company about a stake sale in recent months, but the sides were unable to agree on price, the sources said.
Total initially declined to comment but subsequently said it is not “currently” in talks with a Chinese company to sell a stake in Kashagan. “Total has no ongoing sale process for its Kashagan stake,” it added.
Kashagan, an offshore oilfield in Kazakhstan's zone of the Caspian Sea, is the world’s biggest oil find in decades and the most expensive standalone oil project. It took an estimated $50 billion and 13 years to develop before starting in 2016. Total is not using any external bankers in the sale process.
The sale would be a welcome cash boost for Total as it prepares to buy $8.8 billion of oil and gas assets in Africa from Occidental Petroleum should the US group’s acquisition of rival Anadarko go through.