Exclusive: MidEast state firms team up to bid for stake in Occidental unit - sources

DUBAI (Reuters) - Three Gulf state-owned firms have teamed up to bid for a minority stake in Occidental Petroleum Corp's (NYS:OXY) Middle East and North Africa (MENA) business in a deal likely to be worth about $8 billion-$10 billion (£4.88 billion-£6.1 billion), three banking sources said on Monday.

Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Development Co (MUDEV.UL), Qatar Petroleum (QATPE.UL) and Oman Oil Co have formed a consortium and have picked Citigroup (NYS:C) to advise them, the sources with knowledge of the matter said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the information isn't public.

The fourth-largest U.S. oil company could sell a 40 percent stake in its MENA business to the trio, two of the sources said, which would likely cost in the region of $8-10 billion.

Occidental said in October it planned to sell a minority stake in its MENA operations as part of a restructuring meant to lift its valuation.

Occidental and Qatar Petroleum weren't immediately available for comment, while Citi and Mubadala declined to comment. Oman Oil couldn't be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Dinesh Nair and David French; Additional Reporting by Michael Erman in New York and Amena Bakr in Doha; Editing by Mark Potter)