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ONGC to bid for Enron India's oil, gas asset sale

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation said on Sunday that it would participate in the proposed sale of oil and gas assets owned by US energy giant Enron Corp in India.

"Yes, we would bid for it," an ONGC official told Reuters in Bombay. The firm is India's leading crude oil producer.

Enron is looking to sell its stake in oil fields Panna-Mukta and gas field Tapti located in the western Bombay offshore basin.

The field's other owners include ONGC and Reliance Industries, India's largest petrochemicals firm.

Separately, a Press Trust of India report quoted ONGC chairman and managing director B C Bora as saying that his firm is interested in picking up Enron's entire equity.

"We are interested in picking up Enron's stake... we are looking into Enron's exit from the JV as part of its asset rebalancing and are exploring all possibilities of acquiring the entire equity," PTI quoted Bora as saying.

A Reliance spokesman told Reuters that his firm is open to the idea of bidding but declined to comment further.

The fields produce 290 million cubic feet of gas and 25,500 barrels of oil per day.

Enron has appointed investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) to find the buyer by March-April 2001.

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