The Hindu Business Line : India watching PetroKazakh revamp

INDIA is hopeful of acquiring assets held by the Canadian firm PetroKazakhstan once the company is restructured in-line with the proposed legislation of Kazakhstan Government that gives the Government pre-emptive right to buy oil and gas assets on sale in the country.

Disclosing this here today, the Petroleum Minister, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, said that "After PetroKazakhstan gets restructured and the legal framework is known, then perhaps we can start talking about how we can secure Indian participation in assets run by PetroKazakh."

The lower house of Kazakhstan Parliament has passed a legislation, which would give Kazakhstan national oil company the right to acquire 51 per cent stake in PetroKazhakstan.

"We are awaiting the passage of this legislation by the upper house," Mr Aiyar said on the sidelines of a bio-fuel conference here.

The Minister told pressperson that he had held talks with his Kazakh counterpart, Mr V. Shkolnik, early this month to see if Indian firms can be involved in PetroKazakhstan after the Kazakh Government passes a new law allowing the State to intervene in the sale of oil assets to foreigners.

The shareholders of PetroKazakhstan would meet on Tuesday (October 18) to ratify the Chinese oil company, CNCP's bid.

The Canadian law stipulates that PetroKazakhstan would have to inform its shareholders of any better bid than the one made by CNCP before the shareholders ratification.

"It is not for me to take the next course of action. It is for the concerned companies.

"I do not know if ONGC Videsh Ltd-L.N. Mittal Group combine will re-bid," Mr Aiyar said.

The Indian consortium was ahead of the Chinese firm in the first round, the Minister added.

Asked whether he smelt any foul play by Goldman Sachs, the merchant bankers acting on behalf of the seller PetroKazakhstan, the Minister said that, "It looks like the goal posts were changed after the match started." The merchant banker had sought certain clarification on OVL-Mittal bid on August 19, asking them to submit the clarifications on August 22, but the sale announcement came before that.

"When you have a process of bidding by auction, party A comes up with the highest bid when it gets closed. However, in this case, party B (CNCP) was invited to submit a revised bid and party A was told that they too could submit a revised bid by given time. But before that time came, an announcement of sale was made," he said.

PetroKazakhstan accounts for about 12 per cent of oil production in Kazakhstan and is the third largest oil producer in that country.

It owns 500 million barrels of reserves, 150,000 barrels a day of crude output and a refinery in Kazakhstan.

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