Kulczyk Alliance Wins Shell Nigeria Block Bid-Activist

Dow Jones

5 May 2011

Kulczyk Alliance Wins Shell Nigeria Block Bid-Activist

By Benoit Faucon

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- An alliance formed by Polish-owned Kulczyk Oil Ventures Inc. (KOV.WA) and a Nigerian local community has won a bid to buy into a Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) oil and gas block for about $800 million, a community leader involved in the deal said late Wednesday.

The deal--if completed--would suggest a recent increase in Nigerian asset valuations and set a template for improved relations with sometimes hostile communities.

A consortium formed by Kulczyk Oil, an exploration company controlled by Polish billionaire Jan Kulczyk, indigenous concern Nestoil and a community-backed company has won a bid for a block in the Western Niger Delta, said Miabiye Kuromiema, president of the Ijaw Youth Council.

"Shell has approved of it [the winning bid]," he said. "It is awaiting the minister's approval."

An oil-industry official said Shell would issue a statement, without elaborating.

"We secured community equity to be managed through a community [company] in the Necode consortium, winner of a bid for OML 42," said the leader of the IYC, one of the Delta's main civic bodies. The alliance will get 45% in the block, including Shell's 30% operating stake, the IYC leader said.