Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) today said it is yet to decide on bidding for Spanish oil firm Repsol's Argentinean arm.
ONGC Videsh, the overseas investment arm of the state-run firm, had been approached for the sale of YPF SA, the Argentinean arm of Spanish oil major Repsol YPF SA, but the company is yet to make up its mind, a top company official said.
"I cannot at this stage say we are interested or not interested. We haven't yet reached the stage to decide either ways. These are very preliminary days," he said.
The acquisition will cost a minimum $17 billion and even if OVL stitches a three way alliance with companies like Gazprom of Russia, it would still have to shell out close to $5 billion and the company will have to look at finances.
"These are uncertain times and we are not sure of the finances," the official said referring to the global credit crunch. Besides, the approval process in India takes a long time.
"As of now, we haven't decided anything on YPF," the official said. "We keep looking at opportunities that are available in the market but that doesn't mean we will bid for everything. We do our due diligence and only after a through combing we decide on acquisition targets."