Oil India: GAIL, Indian Oil, ONGC, Oil India To Jointly Bid For BP Vietnam Assets

27th Jul 2010 13:07

NEW DELHI (Dow Jones)--Four Indian state-run oil companies--GAIL (India) Ltd. (532155.BY), Oil India Ltd. (533106.BY), Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. (532155.BY) and Indian Oil Corp. Ltd. (530965.BY)--will jointly bid for BP PLC's (BP) energy assets in Vietnam, Oil India chairman Nayan Mani Borah said Tuesday. The four Indian companies will approach PetroVietnam for a joint bid for BP's assets, he said, adding that the state-run Vietnamese company has first right of refusal on the assets. "The approach and goal is to combine our strengths with PetroVietnam," Borah told reporters. He said the bid would likely be for BP's share in a gas block, pipeline and a power plant. BP has said it plans to sell up to $30 billion of its assets over the next 18 months in an effort to fund the mounting costs of cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP's assets up for sale include those in Vietnam and Pakistan, and are primarily in its upstream business. BP holds a 35% stake in gas block 06.1 in Vietnam, while Oil & Natural Gas Corp. holds 45% and PetroVietnam holds 20%. -By Rakesh Sharma, Dow Jones Newswires; 91-11-4356-3358; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 27, 2010 08:07 ET (12:07 GMT)