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IndianOil scouts for upstream unit for acquisition
Monday, 14 June 2004, 19:30 IST
BANGALORE: State-run IndianOil Corporation (IOC), the country's premier petroleum products firm, is eyeing a mid-sized oil exploration and production company for acquisition at a cost of $2 billion.
M.S. Ramachandran, chairman of IOC, told media persons here Friday the proposed acquisition was part of the company's plans to foray into upstream projects for integration of its operations.
"We have approached the government for approval to acquire a mid-sized exploration and production unit either within the country or overseas after the board cleared the proposal recently," he said.
"We have a war chest of $2 billion for such an acquisition," said Ramachandran without disclosing the unit's name or its geographical location.
"The buyout will enable us gain expertise in upstream projects and compliment our backward integration," he said.
In a bid to expand its refining capacities, IOC plans to set up a refinery in Nigeria on the invitation from the African country for joint collaboration.
"We will be signing an agreement with the Nigerian government soon for the refinery by sourcing their crude. Though Nigeria has plenty of crude oil reserves, there is not enough refinery capacity to process them," said the IOC official.
The Nigerian deal will be finalised after the company evaluates the exploration sites. "The evaluation will enable us to pick up equity stake in an oil field closer to the proposed refinery site."
In view of its successful marketing venture in Sri Lanka and Mauritius, IOC is setting up a liasion office in Indonesia in the next two months, ahead of the deregulation of the oil industry in the Southeast Asian country.
Source: IANS
Source: IANS