Mittal to transfer 50% of Kazakh oil field stake to OVL

Steel czar Lakshmi N Mittal has offered to sell half of his stake in a Kazakhstan oil field to state-run ONGC Videsh in line with its previous commitment, a statement from his holding company said today. "Mittal has offered to transfer half of its stake (in Caspian Investments Resources) to OVL in line with its previous commitment to OVL," Mittal Investment Managing Director Sarl Sudhir Maheshwari said in an e-mail statement. Mittal Investment Sarl, the holding company of Mittal family's interest in world's largest steel firm ArcelorMittal, had in April 2007 acquired 25 per cent stake in Caspian Investments Resources from Russian oil firm Lukoil for $980 million. Maheshwari said "Mittal Family is comfortable with its stake in the Kazakh Caspian project" and the transfer had nothing to do with financial constraints or funding requirement for the Satpayev field which it along with OVL had been allocated in January this year. He, however, said the stake transfer to OVL in Caspian was "subject to the pre-emption rights of the partner (Kazakhstan national oil firm KazMunaiGaz) or the Government of Kazakhstan." Kazakhstan law stipulates KazMunaiGaz taking half of ownership of an oil property at every equity stake transfer.

BP, Shell eye Santos

Global energy giants BP, Eni and Shell are eyeing possible bids for Australia's No.3 oil and gas firm Santos, which one analyst valued at around $7 billion, but a bid from China looks unlikely, dealmakers say. Takeover speculation has swirled around Santos, which has a strong balance sheet and coveted liquid natural gas (LNG) prospects, since Nov 29 when a government cap on foreign ownership expired. Its shares soared 16 percent on Dec. 8 after a media report said China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), parent of PetroChina, may bid. But with Australia reviewing a raft of Chinese investments, including Chinalco's contentious $19.5 billion deal with miner Rio Tinto, alarm bells are ringing in Canberra that China Inc might end up owning too much of Australia before the global financial crisis ends. That makes a CNPC bid highly unlikely, dealmakers say. "The Chinese realise they cannot succeed with a hostile bid," said a Hong Kong-based investment banker with direct knowledge of the matter. CNPC spokesman Liu Weijiang said he did not have any knowledge of the situation when contacted by Reuters. The banker added that BP, Eni and Shell are looking at Santos, but a formal process is not yet in place. "The hawks are swirling," the banker said. BP and Shell declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Eni did not respond to calls seeking comment. "All of those companies have business development departments that are fully on top of Santos," a second Hong Kong-based investment banker said. Both bankers declined to be named because of client sensitivities. STRONG LNG PROSPECTS Santos is planning with Petronas a A$7.7 billion ($5.4 billion) LNG project in Australia's Queensland state which has earned it the envy of peers nurturing LNG growth ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region.

Suncor to Buy Petro-Canada in C$19.3 Billion Takeover

Consolidation in global energy sector now gathers momentum. Suncor Energy Inc., the world’s second-largest oil-sands producer, agreed to buy Petro-Canada for C$19.3 billion ($15.6 billion) in a record takeover that will create the biggest Canadian energy company. Owners of Petro-Canada will get 1.28 shares of the combined company for each of their shares, the Calgary-based oil producers said today in a statement. The transaction values Petro-Canada at C$39.55 a share, 33 percent higher than its March 20 closing price.

The deal is the biggest in history for a Canadian oil company and is the industry’s largest worldwide since January 2007, according to Bloomberg data. It will yield expense savings and help Suncor shoulder high-cost oil-sands projects in northern Alberta after crude prices tumbled more than $100 a barrel from last year’s all-time high.

"It’s a good opportunity for Suncor to snap up some good assets at fairly depressed prices," said Greg Smith, managing director at investment adviser Fat Prophets U.K. Ltd. in London.
"Oil sands are the legitimate solution to the long-term energy problem, but it’s a lot more costly to get the oil out of the ground."

Petro-Canada produced about 409,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day in the fourth quarter, 46 percent more than Suncor’s total, from its operations in Canada, the U.S., the North Sea and Africa.

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan increased its stake in Petro-Canada to 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter and said it would push for ways to boost the share price after the stock lost half its value last year. The stock underperformed the Standard & Poor’s/Toronto Stock Exchange Composite Index five years in a row, a period when oil prices almost tripled.
"If you look at how badly Petro-Canada has underperformed over the last five years, you’d say it’s a fair deal," said Gavin Graham, director of investments at Bank of Montreal Asset Management in Toronto. "Suncor has to demonstrate that it can actually run those assets better. Given their track record, they are very likely to do so." Suncor, which lost 56 percent of its market value last year, had jumped 30 percent this year before today, the most among Canadian oil companies valued at more than C$1 billion.

Centre okays BRPL’s merger with IOCL

GUWAHATI, March 19 – After years of discussions and speculations, the Government of India finally issued the order for amalgamating the Bongaigaon Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (BRPL) with the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL). Official sources said that discussions for the amalgamation were going on for years and finally on March 9 this year, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs of the Government of India issued the final order in this regard. Interestingly, the Ministry issued the final order of amalgamation of the BRPL with the IOCL after the declaration of the dates of the Lok Sabha polls.

Copies of the final order of the Ministry were communicated to all concerned including the employees’ union of the BRPL by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on March 12.The final order of the Ministry confirming the amalgamation said that confirmation petitions for amalgamation were filed by the IOCL on March 3, 2008, while the BRPL submitted the same on March 13 last year. The order said that the amalgamation would result in consolidation of the business of both the companies and this would enable the joint entity to harness and optimize the synergies of both the BRPL and IOCL. The order further said that the amalgamation was aimed at achieving appropriate size and scale of operation through integration of the capabilities of both the companies.

The companies, in their petitions, further said that the amalgamation would enable pooling of financial, managerial and technical resources, personnel capabilities, skills, expertise, technologies, etc., resulting in logistic advantages and cost reduction.The order further said that the Board of Directors of the BRPL approved the amalgamation scheme in two meetings on July 7, 2005 and November 29, 2006, while the Board meeting of the IOCL approved the same on June 30, 2005 and November 29, 2006.It may be mentioned here that though it was felt that the amalgamation was required for the survival of the BRPL, a section of officers of the company were of the view that the company would lose its separate entity after the move is completed

Reliance to induct JV partner for fuel business

India’s most valuable company, Reliance Industries (RIL), will induct a partner into a planned new venture that will house its -making fuel retail business, and state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and the Indian unit of Anglo-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell are the frontrunners for the 50% stake it is willing to offer, a person familiar with the matter said. The company, which operates the world’s largest refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat, has no plans to completely exit fuel retailing in the country, but is, at the same time, keen to recoup some of its past losses, estimated to be several thousands of crores. “We want to look at options of a collaboration with existing market players,” RIL’s CEO for its oil and gas operations PMS Prasad told ET.

The group recently invited bids from a raft of Indian and overseas companies, notably IOC, Shell India, BPCL and HPCL, and the person said it could consider even offering a majority stake of 51% to the partner. RIL has invested nearly $1.4 billion to date in the fuel retailing business and has built up a network of 1,432 petrol pumps across the country. Creating a separate company for this business and divesting a part of its equity in it could help RIL shift its accumulated losses from fuel retailing away from its books.

Essar Oilfield to procure two jack-up rigs for $440 mn

Essar Group company Essar Oilfield Services plans to procure two jack-up rigs for $440 million, a top official of the company said.

"We are in the process of procuring two jack-up rigs at a cost of USD 440 million. These rigs are expected to join our fleet within the next 24 months," Essar Shipping Ports and Logistics Director V Ashok, who is also the CFO of Essar Oilfield Services, told reporters at its KG Basin facility.

The company was also looking at procuring other assets, including offshore drilling assets, which would be in synergy with its expansion plans, Ashok said. EOSL, which is in the process of being brought under the fold of Essar Shipping Ports and Logistics, was planning to expand its fleet to cater to the ever-growing oil exploration and production market, he said. "As the company acquires new assets, it plans to tap the offshore and onshore drilling markets outside India. It is currently looking at various opportunities in the onshore and offshore drilling space in several regions including the Norwegian region, Latin America, West Asia, Africa and Asia," Ashok said.
At present, EOSL has a fleet of 13 land rigs and one semi-submersible rig.

Time Technoplast buys 74 pc in NED Energy

Polymer products maker Time Technoplast Ltd said on Monday it has bought a 74 per cent stake in battery maker NED Energy Ltd for an undisclosed sum.

NED's enterprise value is estimated at Rs 650 million and Time Technoplast has the option of buying out the balance 26 per cent from the promoters, it said in a statement.

(Source: Economic Times)

Origo Sino-India buys 20 pct stake in India's Roshini International Bio Energy

Origo Sino-India PLC said it taken a 20 pct stake in India's Roshini International Bio Energy Corp Ltd (RIBEC), extending a convertible note of up to 2 mln usd and retaining the right to invest an additional 6 mln usd in a pre-IPO private placement.

The private equity adviser also said it has entered into definitive agreements with RIBEC to create an international joint venture focused on the renewable bio-energy sector.

RIBEC reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of 4.4 mln usd for the year to end March on revenue of 5.87 mln usd, the company said in a statement.

(source: Hemscott)

Kalyani Group buys RSB Consult

The $2.1-billion Kalyani group on Monday announced the acquisition of RSB Consult GmbH, a design and consulting house in the wind energy sector, based in Muenster, Germany, for an undisclosed amount. Since the acquisition took place a few days ago RSB Consult has undergone a change in name to become Kenersys GmbH, an obvious short form for Kalyani Energy Systems.

statement released here by the company noted that the acquisition of the four-year-old company was a “strategic step towards entering the high growth wind energy sector”. According to Bharat Forge CMD BN Kalyani RSB, set up in 2003 by professionals from the sector, is a design and consulting house with a customer base across the world.

Mr Kalyani noted, “There are two strategic leverages in the wind turbine business, product technology and supply chain management. With the acquisition of RSB, the Kalyani group will have a strong and experienced design and engineering team that will take care of product technology. The Kalyani Group will bring in its well established global supply chain capabilities and engineering skills to drive the global business model. It will manage the Asia Pacific markets and operations from India."

(Source: Economic Times)