Tullow Oil plc said it was in preliminary discussions regarding a possible all-share offer for the company by Dallas-based Kosmos Energy Ltd.
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The American company has until 5pm on 9 January 2025 either to announce whether or not it intends to make an offer.
The deadline can be extended with the consent of the panel on takeovers and mergers.
Tullow, whose chief executive officer is due to leave next year, added that there was no certainty that any offer would be made.
The Irish company has assets in West Africa, Argentina and decommissioning in the UK.
Kosmos is a deepwater oil exploration and production company with assets offshore Ghana, Equatorial Guinea and the US Gulf of Mexico.
The company also has gas development projects offshore Mauritania and Senegal.