Premier Oil, the North Sea oil and gas explorer, yesterday said it had decided to halt talks with a preferred bidder over the disposal of interests in Mauritania and that it would now hold on to its interests there.

Premier Oil, the North Sea oil and gas explorer, yesterday said it had decided to halt talks with a preferred bidder over the disposal of interests in Mauritania and that it would now hold on to its interests there.

The Edinburgh-registered independent said the bidder's offer "did not fully reflect the value" of the north-west African assets, which analysts have estimated to be worth around $120m (£59m).

The name of the bidder was not disclosed.

Industry observers say the company is now fully focused on its growth strategy after the unwelcome distraction of a takeover bid last year, understood to have come from Dubai Energy.

Shares in Premier, whose interests also stretch to India, Indonesia and Vietnam, yesterday edged down 2%, or 24p, to 1165p on the news.

The company also said Petronas, a unit of Malaysian state energy firm Petroliam Nasional Berhad, has already purchased Woodside Energy's Mauritanian subsidiaries since Premier announced its intention to sell the interests.

Petronas, a current partner of Premier in the Anoa field in Indonesia and a former strategic shareholder in the Scottish company, will assume the operatorship of the Mauritanian blocks in which Premier holds an interest, the company said.

Premier chief executive Simon Lockett said: "We have decided to terminate the disposal process as we consider the offers received do not fully reflect the value of Premier's Mauritanian interests."

Premier stated that it plans to retain its interests in producing the Chinguetti fields in the West African nation.

In March, Premier had said it would pursue sale discussions for its Mauritania assets as the field, which was brought on stream in February, had produced below expecta- tions because of reservoir complexities.

At the same time, Lockett has said that its development programme was progressing as planned, and that production could hit 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by the end of 2011 on its existing assets alone.

l FTSE-100 oil and gas explorer Tullow Oil has said discussions over securing rigs for a two-well drilling programme in Ghana early next year were "well advanced".

The London-based firm, which has interests in 23 countries, added that preparations for its Ngassa exploration well in Uganda were on schedule.