PSU oil majors eye BP's stake in Vietnam gas project
New Delhi   22-Jul-2010

With BP Plc likely to exit its hydrocarbon business in Vietnam, Indian public sector companies - ONGC, GAIL (India), IndianOil, and Oil India - have combined forces to acquire the British firm's stake in Nam Con Son gas project.

The buzz is that following the Gulf of Mexico incident, BP, which is said to be in need of resources, is looking at divesting its stake from its project in Vietnam that includes upstream and midstream units as also a power project.

The project cost is estimated to be close to $1.3 billion. An Indian delegation led by the Petroleum Minister, Mr Murli Deora, is in Hanoi to make a claim on BP's stake in two offshore gas fields, a pipeline and power project called the 'Nam Con Son gas project'.

Mr Deora is meeting the Prime Minister of Vietnam to discuss the investment proposals. The Indian side is also meeting the officials of PetroVietnam, the national oil company.

The Petroleum Minister told Business Line that "it is a great opportunity for us. We will talk to them."

Other firms such as China's CNOOC and Sinopec as well as Thailand's PTTEP could also be interested in BP's stake in the Vietnam project.

ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas investment arm of ONGC, would like to increase its stake in the gas producing asset, where it is a partner with BP and PetroVietnam.

OVL has 45 per cent equity, BP 35 per cent (operator), and remaining is with PetroVietnam. IndianOil will be looking at the 720-MW power project in which BP has a stake. GAIL (India) is exploring the possibility of acquiring BP's stake in the 376-km pipeline.

BP has 32.33 per cent stake in the $565-million pipeline where its other partners are ConocoPhillips (16.7 per cent) and PetroVietnam (51 per cent). The gas produced from the fields is supplied to a 720-MW, $412-million power plant where BP, NI of Japan and Semb Corp of Singapore have 33.3 per cent stake each.