South Korea's national oil company is interested in buying

"They have expressed interest in everything -- exploration, production and all the potential downstream activities," said Thomas Manu, director of production at Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).

South Korea's national oil company is interested in buying a stake in Ghana's giant Jubilee oil field, the Korean firm and Ghana's state oil agency said on Friday.

Discussions between the two parties were at a preliminary stage, he told Reuters after a delegation from Korea met Ghanaian officials.

"Korea National Oil (Corp) is interested in participating in exploration and also in Kosmos' assets," said KNOC President and Chief Executive Young-won Kang.

GNPC is in protracted talks to buy the Jubilee stake owned by privately-held Kosmos Energy. A Ghanaian government source said in February the government wants to block a reported deal for Kosmos to sell its interest in the field to Exxon Mobil for $4 billion.

"(The Koreans) have expressed interest in buying a portion of it if we acquire it," Manu said.

Jubilee, forecast to begin producing later this year, has recoverable reserves of 800 million barrels, Ghana's Energy Minister Jospeh Oteng-Adjei said last month. (Reporting by Kwasi Kpodo; Editing by Daniel Magnowski and Marguerita Choy)

The euro fell on Friday

The euro fell on Friday over doubts Greece would win euro-zone aid, capping its worst week since January, and concerns about the UK economy hit sterling.

A report on Thursday that Greece saw limited prospects for euro-zone assistance raised concerns about the country's ability to service its debt. On Friday, the euro fell as far as $1.3502, its lowest level in more than two weeks. It was down 1.7 percent this week, its worst showing since late January.

Greece said it may have to turn to the International Monetary Fund for help, though it dismissed news reports it was planning to do so as early as April.

If Greece fails to win euro-zone support, analysts say the market may view the euro zone as unwilling or unable to solve internal financial crises.

"The tensions surrounding Greece are escalating. This whole IMF situation has become a game of brinkmanship and the whole uncertainty is undermining the euro," said Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist, at BNY Mellon in New York.

European Union leaders are set to meet next week to discuss rescue plans for Greece. The euro was last trading at 1,3535, down about half a percent, while investors demanded a higher premium to buy 10-year Greek debt over German bunds.

Sterling also fell sharply, dipping briefly below $1.50, after a Bank of England policy maker said there was some risk of a double-dip recession in Britain. The pound was last down about 1.5 percent at $1.5017.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and other officials have ruled out IMF assistance to Greece, but German policy makers have said the IMF may have a role to play.

"From the perspective of the investor, events continue to be frustratingly opaque," said Andrew Wilkinson, senior market analyst at Interactive Brokers Group in Greenwich, Connecticut. "Repeated meetings result in no clear statement other than a commitment that now appears far less solid than before."

A decline in major U.S. stock indexes on Friday reflects heightened risk aversion, BNY Mellon's Woolfolk said, and could spell more trouble for the euro.

"I really don't see any support for the euro. We may have to test that low below $1.3450 in the near term," he said.

YEN FLAT, SWISS FRANC RISES

The dollar was up 0.2 percent at 90.47 yen while the euro fell 0.4 percent to 1.4346 Swiss francs.

Earlier, the euro slipped as far as 1.4320 francs, a 17-month low, following Thursday's remarks from a Swiss National Bank official. Board member Jean-Pierre Danthine said interest rates cannot stay low forever and Swiss firms and consumers should prepare for higher borrowing costs.

But at a policy meeting last week, the SNB's statement did not drop a pledge to counter excessive gains in the franc as it continues to appreciate against the euro.

Traders are focusing on the 1.4300 area, the record low, as the next support level. Options structures were said to be prevalent at that level.

The Canadian dollar gained after Canadian core inflation unexpectedly rose in February. Earlier, the U.S. dollar fell to a 20-month low at C$1.0062, but the greenback recovered to trade up 0.2 percent at C$1.0166.

Gold May Gain on Alternative to Dollar, Low Rates, Survey Shows

Gold may gain on speculation demand will increase as investors seek an alternative to the dollar and low interest rates, a survey showed.

Ten of 17 traders, investors and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, or 59 percent, said bullion would rise next week. Five forecast lower prices and two were neutral. Gold for delivery in April was up 2.3 percent for this week at $1,126.60 an ounce at 12:46 p.m. in New York yesterday.

The Federal Reserve this week left the federal funds rate target for overnight loans between banks in a range of zero to 0.25 percent, where it’s been since December 2008, and pledged to keep rates “exceptionally low” for an “extended period.” Gold climbed 24 percent last year as central banks maintained low interest rates and spent trillions to stimulate economies.

The Fed decision “will keep the pressure off the dollar from rising in the intermediate term, giving gold room on the upside,” said , an investor in Summit, New Jersey, and a former precious-metals trader for Mitsubishi International Corp.

The red bars on the attached chart are derived by subtracting bearish forecasts from bullish estimates, with readings below zero signaling that most respondents expect a decline. The green line shows the gold price. The data shown are as of March 12.

The weekly gold survey has forecast prices accurately in 174 of 303 weeks, or 57 percent of the time.

Greek Bonds Fall, Extending Weekly Decline, on Funding Concern

Greek government bonds fell, extending their weekly decline, amid deepening concern over how the nation will repay debt and fund its budget shortfall as other European Union members disagree on how to help.

German debt headed for a weekly advance as the split pushed investors to seek safer assets. Greek Prime Minister is racing to secure an explicit pledge of European aid and cut his country’s borrowing costs as 20 billion euros ($27 billion) of debt comes due in the next two months.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty out there and that doesn’t support Greek bonds at the moment,” said , a fixed- income strategist at ING Groep NV in Amsterdam. “There’s some flight to quality, and Germany is performing better than other countries.”

The yield on the 10-year Greek bond rose 4 basis points to 6.38 percent as of 11:27 a.m. in London, and earlier reached the highest since Feb. 26, according to generic data compiled by Bloomberg. It’s headed for a 14-basis-point advance for the week. The 6.25 percent security due in June 2020 fell 0.27, or 2.70 euros per 1,000 euro face amount, to 98.960.

The yield premium investors demand to hold Greek securities instead of German bunds widened to , according to the generic data, the most since Feb. 26.

Widening Spread

That spread widened to as much as 396 basis points on Jan. 28, prompting assurances of a safety net from the euro zone’s 16 nation members and extra austerity measures from Greece. Papandreou says Greece deserves better treatment from markets after presenting the program of spending cuts and tax increases on March 3, which sparked the second national strike in less than two months.

While European finance ministers this week adopted a bailout framework for debt-stricken Greece, German Chancellor government has also signaled it may force Papandreou to seek International Monetary Fund assistance. European Commission President said today he didn’t exclude turning to the IMF for a Greek rescue. Bundesbank board member said Europe should let Greece go bankrupt if it can’t refinance its debts, rather than provide financial aid, Salzburger Nachrichten reported.

“The problem for Greece is that they have been relying on the pledge of guarantees to see the yield spread come down so that they can refinance at a lower rate,” , global head of fixed-income research at HSBC Holdings Plc in London, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “The markets aren’t silly. They need to see the color of the money. I think that the possibility of more IMF involvement is quite serious.” He called longer-dated Greek bonds “still very good value.”

Bunds Slip

The German bund yield fell 1 basis points to 3.12 percent, headed for a weekly decline of 3 basis points, the first drop since Feb. 26.

“The ten-year bund yield could and should be pushed below 3 percent by all this uncertainty,” , chief economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, New York, wrote in a report today. “Spreads between bunds and riskier euro-denominated sovereign debt should continue to widen.”

Portugal’s 10-year bond yield rose 3 basis points today, widening the yield premium over Germany to 120 basis points. Irish 10-year yields gained 4 basis points, increasing the spread with Germany to 143 basis points.