(RTTNews) - China's largest oil refiner China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SNP: News , SNP.L) or Sinopec, has also joined the bandwagon of bidders for a stake in the offshore Jubilee field, according to the Wall Street Journal on Monday. Sinopec, represented by Neil Bush, the younger brother of former US President George W. Bush, has made an offer to the state-run Ghana National Petroleum Corp. to jointly bid for the stake.

Several other large foreign oil companies, including French giant Total, UK supermajor BP Plc (BP: News ) and Chinese energy company Cnooc Ltd. (CEO: News ), have sent representatives to Ghana for talks with the government about acquiring a stake in the field. Ghana National Petroleum is said to have rejected the initial offer from Sinopec, and is awaiting more offers from potential partners.

Dallas-based independent oil exploration company Kosmos Energy LLC agreed earlier this month to sell its Ghanaian assets, including about 23.5% stake in the lucrative Jubilee field, saying that it was in exclusive talks with U.S. oil and gas supermajor ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM: News ).

This Jubilee Field stake is what the oil giants are bidding for, and Kosmos is reported to have signed a binding agreement with ExxonMobil for the stake at an estimated value of $4 billion. The stake purchase marks the first entry of one of the world's major oil companies into a significant new oil province.

Two days after that, the Wall Street Journal reported that Cnooc is in advanced talks with Ghana National Petroleum Corp. to make a rival bid challenging Exxon Mobil's $4 billion offer for a stake in a major offshore oil discovery, Jubilee Fields in West Africa.
In July, reports had said that Ghana National Petroleum, which oversees the country's nascent oil and gas industry, might buy Kosmos' stake in the Jubilee oil field. The company reportedly hired Morgan Stanley (MS) to advise on how to develop its resources most efficiently.

The Jubilee field was discovered in 2007 off the coast of Ghana and is one of the largest oil finds in the last decade in offshore West Africa. Jubilee is said to hold the type of light, sweet crude oil that is most sought after by global markets. The Jubilee field is estimated to hold over 1.8 billion barrels of oil and 800 billion cubic feet of gas.

With discoveries also in Sierra Leone, Ghana is set to become one of Africa's newest oil exporters in late 2010 when production begins at the offshore Jubilee field. The country is considered to be stable compared to other West African oil exporting countries like Nigeria.

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