India, China win joint bid for oil field: report (AFP) Updated: 2005-12-21 19:41
India and China, often fierce rivals in the race for global energy supplies,
have won a joint bid to buy Petro-Canada's 37 percent stake in Syrian oil fields
for 573 million dollars, reports said.
India and China, often fierce rivals in the
race for global energy supplies, have won a joint bid to buy
Petro-Canada's 37 percent stake in Syrian oil fields for 573 million
dollars. [AFP] |
India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and China National Petroleum Corp
(CNPC), both state-owned, will have equal stakes in the Al Furat oil and gas
fields, the Press Trust of India said on Wednesday.
This is the first time the two Asian giants have bid together for
overseas reserves to feed their economies. In all, eight firms were in the
race for Petro-Canada's stake in the Syrian venture, PTI said.
The acquisition followed the countries' announcement in April they would team
up to bid for some energy projects as they seek to keep their economies booming
although they said they would still compete for others.
"The Syrian acquisition is a major breakthrough for us," ONGC Chairman Subir
Raha told the Business Standard newspaper. "We're very excited because this is
the first time an Indian company has acquired an oil property along with a
Chinese company."
"This will be a pace-setter for more such deals along the oil and gas value
chain," he was quoted by the The Economic Times as saying.
The acquisition must now be formally approved by the Syrian government.
Raha said the company would explore the possibility of more such
collaborations with the Chinese in the future.
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