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The Oil of Udmurtia Escaping to India
NGK Itera has filed a bid for 96.9 percent in Udmurtneft from TNK-BP. Itera will fight for the asset in tandem with Indian ONGC, which has become the second company of India aimed at Udmurtneft. At the same time, Chinese CNPC failed to find a Russian partner and dropped out of the struggle.
Mikhail Fridman, who is Alfa Group CEO and BOD member at TNK-BP, announced yesterday no other preliminary bids for Udmurtneft will be accepted. The list of the bidders has suffered some changes. NGK Itera said, for instance, it would bid for the asset in consortium with Indian ONGC, where Itera would have 51 percent and India – 49 percent.
Udmurtneft develops 23 fields in Udmurtia. With annual production of around 6 million tons, it accounts for 60 percent of the overall crude output of the region.
In addition to Itera and ONGC, Russneft, Sibneft and North-West Oil Group along with Indian Oil India Ltd. have officially confirmed their claims for the asset.
Big companies of Asia, including Malaysian Petronas and Chinese Sinopec and CNPC, were said to be intending to bid. Nevertheless, Reuters reported yesterday CNPC wouldn’t take part in the tender, as it found no partner in Russia.
Russneft, which bought out from TNK-BP last year Udmurtian Oil Co. and other asserts worth $1 billion overall, is tipped as the frontrunner. The assets’ structure and Russneft strategy in Udmurtia signal the bid of Mikhail Gutseriev’s company could be particularly generous. On the other hand, Indian ONGC has shown it has money for oil assets in Russia. ONGC was ready to pay $6 billion last year for 15 percent in Yuganskneftegaz, two or three fold above the official estimate.
The tricky point is that no official decision has been made about Udmurtneft disposal. The issue will be considered in March, Fridman specified.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Feb. 22, 2006
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