Terms of Sinopec's deal with Total call for the Chinese energy giant to take control of the OML 138 block that includes the French company's stake in the Usan offshore oil field, which Total owns jointly with Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Nexen, the Calgary-based company poised to be bought by CNOOC. The sale by Total, which is seeking to sell off $20 billion in assets in order to restructure its operations, requires the approval of Nigerian regulators. The country holds about 28 percent of the oil reserves on the African continent, which, in turn, count for about 8 percent of global supply.
Three Vinson media representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the names of the lead lawyers from the firm advising Sinopec. Shao Jingyang serves as Sinopec's general counsel.
The boom in energy-related transactional work has kept Vinson's lawyers busy lately. The firm advised Denver-based Antero Resources on its announced $325 million sale three weeks ago of natural gas and pipeline assets in Colorado, Summit Midstream Partners on its $207 million acquisition of ETC Canyon Pipeline in October, and private equity giant TPG Capital on the sale that same month of a stake in an Italian cellulosic ethanol joint venture called Beta Renewables to Danish biotech company Novazymes.
In September, Vinson advised Denver-based oil and gas producer Triangle Petroleum on a pipeline development joint venture in North Dakota with private equity firm First Reserve; private equity-owned Sidewinder Drilling on its $242 million purchase of Union Drilling; private equity firm Riverstone Holdings on its $500 million investment partnership with Kaiser Midstream to form Sage Midstream; and private equity giant The Carlyle Group on its agreement to buy power plant developer Cogentrix Energy from Goldman Sachs for an undisclosed sum.
