CHINA'S state-run energy giant, Sinopec Group, is in the process of conducting due diligence on oil producer Imperial Energy, but has not yet made an official offer, Chinese media reported today
London-listed Imperial Energy, already discussing a £1.3bn takeover, said on Monday it was in talks with a second unnamed suitor, sending shares in the oil company up 8 per cent.
British media said the latest approach came from Sinopec, pitching i
t against India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), which industry sources have said was the first suitor.
Sinopec officials were not available for comment.
"We are upbeat about the prospects of blocks owned by the company. But we have to do our due diligence to decide whether if it's worth that much money," semi-official 21st Century Business Herald newspaper quoted an unnamed Sinopec official as saying.
"It's just an ordinary transaction. We have lots of targets for acquisition in recent years. The aim is to boost our upstream business for long-term growth," the official was quoted as saying, adding there were lots of uncertainties before the deal was finalised.
On Monday, an Imperial Energy spokesman in London declined to identify either possible bidder.
A deal with Sinopec Group, parent of top Asian refiner, would mark the Chinese firm's third major investment in resource-rich Russia.
In 2006, Sinopec bought Udmurtneft, a 120,000 barrels per day crude production unit from BP's Russian unit TNK-BP for about $3.5bn.
It is also developing the Sakhalin-3 oil and gas project off Russia's far east coast with state oil major Rosneft
Imperial Energy, which is registered in Leeds, said in June it aimed to produce 25,000 bpd of crude by the end of this year. It has set a production target of 35,000 bpd by the end of 2009 and 80,000 bpd by 2011.
The full article contains 319 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
