The sale, which industry analysts estimate could bring as much as $4.5 billion, could lead to a breakthrough for development of Mozambique’s considerable energy resources by potentially bringing in a top industry player to provide expertise and capital.

Anadarko, an exploration and production company based outside Houston, and the Italian energy company ENI have pioneered offshore exploration in Mozambique in East Africa, finding the richest troves of gas in recent industry history there in the last three years.

Mozambique has the potential to become one of the world’s leading natural gas exporters, on a par with Qatar and Australia. The gas will be exported as liquefied natural gas, which is formed by supercooling the fuel into a liquid that can be transported on specialized ships. The fields on the coast of East Africa are conveniently located across the Indian Ocean from fast-growing Asian markets.

Anadarko, which made the first discovery in 2010, has 36.5 percent of a block called Area 1. Videocon, a consumer electronics and mobile telecommunications conglomerate controlled by Mr. Dhoot, has 10 percent of Area 1.

“I will try to get the maximum price,” Mr. Dhoot said in discussing the potential sale on CNBC-TV18, an Indian cable channel on Tuesday. Standard Chartered and UBS have been hired by Mr. Dhoot to handle the sale.

An Anadarko spokesman declined to comment beyond saying that the company’s chief executive, Al Walker, said during a conference call last month that he was interested in selling a 10 percent stake, leaving Anadarko with 26.5 percent.

Developing an energy industry in Mozambique, which has little oil and gas infrastructure, will be difficult and expensive, costing tens of billions of dollars or more. This stake sale, if successful, could bring in a leading industry partner to provide investment and LNG expertise.

“Twenty percent is enough to attract the interest of majors like Shell and ExxonMobil or even Petrochina,” said Marne Beukes, an Africa energy analyst at IHS, a research concern in London. She also said that Anadarko and Videocon might be putting up their stakes for sale jointly in order to have a large enough piece to bring in a big player.

The chief executive of ENI, Paolo Scaroni, has also said he may explore a stake sale at some point in the future.

While the wells are relatively easy to drill and the oil and gas industry is experienced in building LNG installations, the plants are likely to be situated in remote areas, adding to the challenges.

Shell recently tried to buy Cove Energy, which had an 8.5 percent stake in Area 1 in Mozambique, but it was outbid by Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production, which paid around $1.9 billion.

Stuart Joyner, an analyst at Investec, said that the Cove deal should serve as a guide to the pricing of future deals. That would mean that Andarko’s and Videocon’s 20 percent stake in Area 1 might sell for around $4.5 billion. ENI values its Mozambique holdings — 70 percent of another block called Area 4 — at about $15 billion.

Some of the gas reservoirs that ENI has discovered overlap with Anadarko’s, and the two companies will need to work together. The Mozambique government must approve any new partner, ENI has said.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/business/global/anadarko-and-videocon-to-sell-mozambique-gas-stakes.html?partner=rss&emc=rss