IndianOil plans solo run in oil hunt
New Delhi   07-Jan-2008
IndianOil, the nation's biggest refiner, may bid alone for some small oil and gas blocks and is in talks with foreign players for bigger blocks in the seventh round of auction announced by the government. "We want to be more than a portfolio investor," IndianOil Chairman Sarthak Behuria said during his weekend visit here. Behuria did not elaborate, but indicated that the company would take a larger stake in the bidding for 57 oil and gas blocks in the country under the seventh round of New Exploration Licensing Policy. He said the company this time might go for solo bidding and seek operator status in some of the small blocks. "This time we want to be more active and aggressive and government will allow going alone especially in small blocks," he said. As a preparatory action, IndianOil has already approached and held talks with a few foreign companies to join it in bidding. It had also shown interest in tying up with Reliance Industries, GAIL India Ltd, ONGC and Oil India Ltd. IndianOil was likely to be more inclined toward a foreign partner for large blocks as this time the government was encouraging more foreign participation, Behuria said. "However, with whom IndianOil will partner for bidding is too early to say," he said. "The process of picking up a potential partner would begin once international road shows, to begin from January 8 from Mumbai, are over," Behuria said. So far, IndianOil mostly participated in NELP and overseas oil and gas equity with ONGC and Oil India without majority stake in product sharing agreements.