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IOC to finalize acquisition plans for African assets
By agencies
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Tuesday, 10 January 2006, 20:30 IST
KOLKATA: Indian Oil Corporation's proposals for the acquisition of exploration, production and downstream assets in two to three African countries, including Gabon in West Africa, is expected to reach a definitive stage in the next two months.
The company is also gearing up to place its final bid for Canadian oil major Niko Resource's Indian assets by next week. Commenting on this, IOC sources said that the company had taken a preliminary board approval for carrying out due diligence and evaluations for assets identified for the acquisition. A set of exploration, production (E&P) and refining, and downstream (including retailing) assets were identified.
On whether they have come closer to acquiring any of the assets identified in Africa, a senior official of IOC said that negotiations are on and it is still at the preliminary stage. It will take another month and half to know whether we are closer to an acquisition or not, he added. However, most of the E&P opportunities are farm-in in nature, whereby IOC would initially finance the development of the oil and gas blocks. The investment would later be converted into an equity stake in the asset.
He said, We are also equally interested in participating in the bidding process for a suitable asset, as we did in Libya, as and when these opportunities come up.