ONGC Videsh (OVL) and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) have made a joint bid, for the first time, to acquire an oilfield. OVL and CNCP made a joint bid to acquire PetroCanada's 38% stake in Al Furat fields in Syria. "We have made a joint bid for a property in Syria with the sharing of equity in 50:50 ratio," Subir Raha, chairman of OVL, said. Eight firms, including the consortium of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Oil India (OIL), are in the race for PetroCanada's stake in Al Furat. The value of the 20-year-old, 36 oilfields is put around $1 billion. OVL had competed with the Chinese firms for oil properties in central Asia, West Africa and Latin America. They were pitched head-on for buying the Canadian firm Petrokazakhstan, which has most of its operations in Kazakhstan, and Encana's Ecuador assets. |