Swedish Lundin set to buy French Coparex

Swedish oil exploration company Lundin Petroleum AB is in talks to buy French peer Coparex in a deal worth more than $150 million, the Swedish business daily Dagens Industri reported on Thursday.

Nobody at Lundin Petroleum was immediately available for comment.

French bank BNP Paribas owns 95 percent of shares in Coparex, the newspaper said, adding talks had been under way for months and that BNP Paribas is willing to sell if the price is right.

Lundin Petroleum is on the lookout for an acquisition that would generate cash flow to offset costs from early-stage exploration in Sudan, where operations are currently at a standstill due to civil war.

Coparex has stakes in oil fields in Indonesia, Venezuela and Tunisia, among other places, Dagens Industri said.

In Indonesia Coparex operates Blora and Banyumas blocks in Central Java and Sareba block in Papua and has interests in Lematang block and South Sokang block in Sumatra. (*)