Panel to look at oil PSUs' recast: Aiyar

Petroleum and natural gas minister Mani Shankar Aiyar today said the government has constituted an advisory panel to suggest restructuring of public sector oil firms. He added that the panel will hold its first meeting on January 24.

"The six-member Advisory Committee on Synergy in Energy will be headed by national advisory council member V Krishnamurthy. It would look at options of merging two or more companies to create oil behemoths that have the financial capabilities to match Chinese firms in the international arena," Aiyar said on the sidelines of Petrotech 2005.

The panel includes Rajiv Gandhi loyalist G K Arora, former Disinvestment Commission chairman G V Ramakrishna, former advisor to finance minister Vijay Kelkar, former ONGC chairman B C Bora and former BPCL chairman U Sunderajan.

Aiyar said the committee has been given two months to submit the report. The options are to merge all oil PSUs into one mega firm or create two oil behemoths by merging Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) with Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India with Indian Oil Corporation.

"Another option would be to keep the oil companies as they are, but devise a management structure that coordinates PSU efforts," Aiyar said.

Merging all oil PSUs will create a big company, which will get the 34th position on the Fortune 500 list of global majors, he said.