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“We are in the race (for acquisition) with about a dozen other companies. It early in the process,” Prashant Ruia, vice chairman of Essar Energy, told reporters in the capital on Thursday.
The UK-based oil major has joined the race to takeover stressed BP’s African assets. BP has put on block its assets across continents to fund $ 32 billion costs to clean up the oil spill and compensate victims of the world’s worst disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
When asked, if Essar will concentrate in one country or look for more, Ruia said, “There are about five-six countries. We are going to look at all.”
According to recent reports, BP wants to sell of downstream assets in Botswana, Tanzania, Namibia, Malawi and Zambia. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Essar have offered as much as $500 million to acquire some of these assets.
Answering a query as to whether Essar would partner with any Indian or foreign company while bidding for BP’s assets, Ruia said, “It’s too early to say.”
BP has started the process of discussions and it will take another five-six months, Ruia hinted.
However a senior oil industry official has said that these assets of BP are put on sale before the oil spill mishap. “They wanted to exit downstream portfolio and focus more on upstream. These assets were on sale for the past one year,” he added.
BP has nearly 20 percent stake in the downstream business across these African countries. “Indian companies such as RIL and Essar export petroleum products to African nations. This opportunity may help them in acquiring assets at a discount and expand their business,” a Mumbai-based analyst said, requesting anonymity.
In a related development, Essar is still in discussions with Royal Dutch Shell to buy refineries at Stanlow in UK and the Harburg and Heide sites in Germany.
“We are still under discussion. Talks are no longer exclusive,” Ruia said. The Indian companies initiated talks with Shell in August last year.
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