ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) and GAIL India combine have not bid for Cove Energy, and are instead looking at preferential bilateral deal with Maputo. “The last date (for bidding) is over. We did not bid," a GAIL official said on Friday. Cove put itself up for sale in January and has received several takeover approaches, including £1-billion offers from Royal Dutch Shell and PTT Exploration, the state-controlled Thai energy group.
Cove's main asset - the Rovuma Offshore Area 1 - may hold recoverable reserves of 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. OVL and GAIL are weighing a bid. The official said the Indian consortium has asked the government to request Mozambique to support their bid in lieu of investment in their upstream and downstream projects. The sale process may be impacted due to Mozambique wanting to impose capital gains tax on the sale of Cove.
