Deal would help balance Ophir
LONDON-LISTED Ophir, which is also headquartered in the city, was founded in 2004 and floated on the stock exchange in 2011.
The FTSE 250 firm is focused mainly in Africa, and its principal activities are exploration for oil and gas, predominantly in deepwater acreage at its eight jurisdictions in east and west Africa.
Ophir has operations in Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Madagascar, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Senegal, Somaliland and Tanzania, as well as in Australia.
Earlier this year the company made almost $1.3bn (£800m) from the sale of a 20 per cent stake in its Tanzanian assets.
Analysts said yesterday that a deal with Salamander would give Ophir better access to the energy starved Asian market, and would rebalance its African-focused gas portfolio into “more oily assets”.