Russia's Rosneft keen to acquire BPCL

Rosneft was the eighth largest oil and gas company globally in 2019

bpcl-us-oil-file-pti The cabinet committee approved sale of government's entire 53.29 per cent stake along with transfer of management control in the country's second-biggest state-owned refiner BPCL after taking out Numaligarh refinery from its fold | File

Russia's Rosneft, among the top 10 oil and gas companies in the world, is likely to bid for India's oil marketing and refining firm Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), which will soon be up for sale. According to PTI, Rosneft is keen on acquiring BPCL, sources said after Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin's meeting with Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday.

With a revenue of $132.73 billion, Rosneft was the eighth largest oil and gas company globally, in 2019. The company already owns a majority stake in private oil refinery Essar Oil Limited (EOL). The oil behemoth operates in 25 countries, including Venezuela, the Republic of Cuba, Canada, USA, Brazil, Norway, Germany, Italy, Mongolia, Kirghizia, China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Armenia, Belarus, Ukraine, Egypt, Mozambique, Iraq, and Indonesia.

A prospective BPCL acquisition will help Rosneft expand in the world's third largest and the fastest growing energy market. 

The Indian government currently holds 53.29 per cent stake in BPCL, and at prevailing market prices the share sale would fetch about Rs 60,000 crore to the government.

The Indian government is expected to come out with the expression of Interest (EoI) inviting bidders for privatisation of BPCL within a few days. 

The proceeds from BPCL stake sale will accrue to the government in the next fiscal beginning April 1. The Centre has set an ambitious disinvestment target of Rs 2.10 lakh crore for the next financial year, which includes selling stake in BPCL and insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). The cabinet in last November had cleared strategic sale of BPCL. 

BPCL operates four refineries at Mumbai, Kochi, Bina in Madhya Pradesh and Numaligarh in Assam with a combined capacity to convert 38.3 million tonnes of crude oil into fuel. It has 15,078 petrol pumps and 6,004 LPG distributors across the country. 

Rosneft boasts of 6 per cent share in the global oil production and 41 per cent share in Russia. The company has 13 refineries in Russia and operated in 78 regions in the country.