LONDON, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Dublin-based San Leon Energy said on Tuesday it was inviting bids for a stake in its Albanian exploration licence, which it said could hold over a billion barrels of oil, after receiving a number of unsolicited bids.

The company said in a statement it had opened a data room for prospective bidders and was in talks with “several large E&P companies”.

San Leon’s London-listed shares traded up 12 percent at 11.33 pence at 0852 GMT.

The group did not say how much it expected to raise but such deals are usually cut on the basis that the purchaser agrees to cover all or part of the seller’s share of field exploration and development costs.

From the early 1990s, a number of international oil companies including Chevron, Occidental, ENI and Royal Dutch Shell explored in Albania but with disappointing results.

In recent years a number of small explorers including PetroManas and Stream Oil & Gas have returned to the country and taken up the drilling effort.

The companies have cited multi-billion barrel potential reserves.

LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Rockhopper Exploration expects to find a partner to invest in its politically sensitive oil discovery offshore the Falkland Islands within three months and might sell a majority stake in the $2 billion project.

Rockhopper executives told a conference last week that seven or eight companies were interested in bidding, according to investment bank Morgan Stanley.

A research note from the bank, which hosted the conference, also said the UK-based company could give up its lead role in the Sea Lion field it believes could have 1.3 billion barrels of oil in place.

“Rockhopper would be willing to relinquish operatorship, if the farm-down interest was high enough,” said the note.

The executives told the conference Rockhopper was giving would-be bidders access to its data because it needs money and expertise to fund the development in an area that is the subject of a territorial dispute between Britain and Argentina.

Mark Wilson, oil analyst at investment bank Macquarie, which also hosted an investor conference at which Rockhopper presented last week, said in a research note he expected the company to sell a 50 percent stake in its interests in return for the partner bearing all the cost of developing the project.

This limits the list of potential acquirers to well-funded companies, ideally with strong cash flows from production.

LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) – UK oil explorer Cairn Energy is talks about the possible sale of a stake in its Greenland exploration interests, according to an analyst note.

Cairn’s exploration boss Mike Watts told an industry conference organised by investment bank Macquarie on Monday about the talks, according to a research note published by the bank on Thursday.

Cairn shares were up 1.4 percent at 1307 GMT, outperforming a flat STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index.

A spokeswoman for Cairn declined to comment on the note but said the company previously announced that it planned to seek a partner in the Greenland blocks.

Macquarie said it saw a sale of a stake in the blocks as more likely to happen in the second half of the year, after Cairn had completed analysis of seismic data which it hopes will show encouraging signs of oil deposits.

Cairn’s $1.2 billion Greenland drilling campaign has so far failed to generate a single oil find – much to the pleasure of green groups who believe drilling in the pristine Arctic region poses too much risk to the environment.

However, the failure has been a disappointment to big oil groups like Exxon Mobil which have also secured exploration rights in Greenland, in the hope of opening up a major new oil production province.

LONDON (Reuters) – Shares in Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) fell on Thursday, with traders citing market talk that the oil giant was telling analysts their forecasts for its fourth-quarter earnings were too optimistic.

Shell’s London-traded “A” shares were down 2 percent at 2,280 pence at 12:10 p.m., underperforming a 0.3 percent drop in the STOXX Europe 600 oil and gas sector index .

The oil and gas sector was weaker as a whole after Chevron Corp (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the second-largest U.S. oil company, warned on Wednesday that fourth-quarter profits would be significantly below the previous quarter.

A Shell spokesman said the company did not make statements about earnings ahead of their official release, to analysts or others.

Financial market rules in Europe and the U.S. forbid companies from divulging market-sensitive information, such as guidance on future profits, to selected market participants, such as analysts or traders.

However, shortly after the end of each quarter, many companies’ investor relations departments call analysts to ask for their predictions for quarterly earnings, from which the company then compiles an average forecast.

Analysts say that in some cases companies will hint to them that their forecasts are too optimistic or pessimistic.

LONDON/NEW YORK, Jan 3 (Reuters) – BP has opened 2012 with a new legal move in its battle to force contractor Halliburton to help pay the costs and expenses it incurred to clean up the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which the oil major previously put at around $42 billion.

Halliburton, the company that cemented the doomed well, had asked a court to force BP to recognise a contractual agreement that protected Halliburton against possible spill clean-up costs.

In response, BP asked a court in a filing on Monday not to give a summary judgment on that request — one that would hand down a ruling without a full trial being held and could let Halliburton off the hook for a share of the total spill costs.

BP restated a claim against Halliburton, first made in an April 2011 filing, that Halliburton should pay it damages “equal to, or in the alternative proportional to Halliburton’s fault,” to cover clean up costs and government fines BP might faces.

Halliburton officials were not immediately available for comment. BP declined comment.

BP shares traded up 2.2 percent at 1520 GMT, ahead of a 1.5 percent rise in the STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index.

Its filing comes ahead of hearings on a collection of lawsuits, which are set to begin in New Orleans on February 27.

LONDON (Reuters) – Explorer Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said it was not in talks with U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) about a 7 billion pounds sale, scotching a newspaper report that sent the Kurdistan-focused group’s shares 24 percent higher.

The Independent on Sunday newspaper reported Exxon was considering making an estimated 800 pence per share bid — five times Gulf Keystone’s closing share price on Friday.

But Gulf Keystone said in a statement on Monday it was “not in discussions with regard to a sale of the company.”

Exxon declined to comment.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said last month Exxon had signed contracts for six exploration blocks, the latest in a list of ever-larger corporations investing in the area.

The increased investment reflects signs the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq may be about to agree a deal with Baghdad on oil revenue sharing and licensing.

Gulf Keystone, which says it has found billions of barrels of oil at its Shaikan discovery, has frequently been the subject of takeover rumours and said in September it was seeking a buyer for its 20 percent interest in the Akri-Bijeel block to help finance ongoing development of other assets.

LONDON (Reuters) – Explorer Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is not in talks with U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) about a 7 billion pounds ($10.9 billion) bid, a source familiar with the Kurdistan-focused group’s thinking said on Monday.

The Independent on Sunday newspaper reported that Exxon was considering making an estimated 800 pence per share bid – five times Gulf Keystone’s closing share price on Friday.

The report, which drove Gulf Keystone’s shares up as much as 24 percent on Monday, said the company’s board had discussed Exxon’s interest a fortnight ago.

But a source familiar with Gulf Keystone’s thinking said there were no talks with Exxon.

“If they had been in discussions, they would have had to have made an announcement,” the source said.

Exxon and Gulf Keystone, which says it has found billions of barrels of oil in the semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq, declined to comment.

Analysts dismissed the prospect of such a high bid from the notoriously financially disciplined Texas-based oil giant, which made headlines with its recent entry into Kurdistan.

LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) – Shares in Kurdistan-focused oil explorer Gulf Keystone Petroleum soared on Monday following a report that U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil Corp was mulling a takeover bid at five times the company’s closing share price on Friday.

The Independent on Sunday newspaper reported that Exxon is considering making an estimated 800 pence per share bid for Britain’s Gulf Keystone, which has made huge oil finds in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq. The reported bid values Gulf Keystone at around 7 billion pounds ($10.9 billion).

Exxon and Gulf Keystone declined to comment.

A source close to the situation downplayed the story, noting bidders rarely make offers at more than a 50 percent premium to targets’ pre-bid share price.

Analysts dismissed the prospect of such a high bid from the notoriously financially disciplined Texas-based oil giant, which made headlines with its recent entry into the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq.

“We fear an element of yuletide wishful thinking may also be playing a part,” said Richard Savage, oil analyst at brokerage Mirabaud.

Nonetheless, Gulf Keystone shares opened 24 percent higher before giving up some of the gains to trade up 19 percent at 197 pence at 1006 GMT.

LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) – Shares in Kurdistan-focused oil explorer Gulf Keystone Petroleum soared on Monday following a report that U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil Corp was mulling a takeover bid at five times the company’s closing share price on Friday.

The Independent on Sunday newspaper reported that Exxon is considering making an estimated 800 pence per share bid for Britain’s Gulf Keystone, which has made huge oil finds in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq. The reported bid values Gulf Keystone at around 7 billion pounds ($10.9 billion).

A source close to the situation downplayed the story, noting bidders rarely make offers at more than a 50 percent premium to targets’ pre-bid share price.

Analysts dismissed the prospect of such a high bid from the notoriously financially disciplined Texas-based oil giant, which made headlines with its recent entry into the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq.

“We fear an element of yuletide wishful thinking may also be playing a part,” said Richard Savage, oil analyst at brokerage Mirabaud.

Nonetheless, Gulf Keystone shares traded up 24 percent at 205.75 pence at 0851 GMT.

Exxon became the first major to move into the Kurdish region in mid-October when it signed with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for six exploration blocks, a move which has angered the Baghdad government.

LONDON, Dec 12 (Reuters) – Chinese state-controlled Sinochem and UK-listed explorer Gulfsands Petroleum have shut down their oil operations in Syria following European Union sanctions related to the crackdown on the uprising against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, Gulfsands said.

Although China has resisted sanctions on Syria, Sinochem is bound by EU sanctions since it bought its interest in the Syrian fields by taking over UK-listed Emerald Energy, through which it still owns the assets, a Gulfsands spokesman said on Monday.

Syrian state-controlled General Petroleum Corporation (GPC) will continue to produce oil from the fields, in exploration block 26, the company said in a statement.

Analysts said the further development of the block would be delayed, postponing expected cashflows from this.

The Syrian fields are the only cash-generating assets Gulfsands owns, save for a few small interests in the U.S. which it is selling. However, a spokesman said it had $120 million on the balance sheet and no debt.

The company said it would retain a presence in Syria.

Sinochem declined immediate comment.