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Our Bureau

New Delhi , Nov. 21

The Petroleum Minister, Mr Murli Deora, today said that India and China should jointly bid to acquire overseas oil and gas assets. ``We both are big importers of oil. We should both bid together so that we save money,'' he told newspersons here. The Chinese President, Mr Hu Jintao's official visit to India begins from Tuesday.

Joint participation would also help reduce acquisition costs, he said. ``There are cases where we have lost money, but where we have worked together, we saved money,'' Mr Deora said.

Recently, ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) and a unit of China's Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corp have jointly acquired Omimex de Colombia Ltd. OVL and China National Petroleum Corp also hold stakes in Sudan's Greater Nile Oil Project.

On the domestic front, Mr Deora said that his Ministry was working towards formulating a suitable gas pipeline policy and laying down guidelines for gas pricing. "Discussions are going on, we are taking views of all. We want a vibrant policy, which would help both the consumers and producers. It will take time."

According to industry grapevine, a high-level panel constituted by the Ministry to suggest guidelines for approving gas price/formula under production sharing contract has suggested that all gas sale will have to be done through competitive bidding route, which would be subject to review every five years.

In circumstances where price determination was not possible through competitive bidding route, valuation would be done by the Government or Directorate General of Hydrocarbons based on the most recent price determine competitively and indexed to the current levels.

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