Rosneft and Saudi Aramco will not bid for Indian refiner BPCL, as weak fuel demand and low oil prices limit their investment plans, according to Reuters. Earlier, Russia’s Rosneft had shown interest in purchasing 53.29% in Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), and Aramco also interested in the buying opportunity. Rosneft now interested in BPCL’s marketing business, while Aramco has not submitted formal expression of interest and unlikely to bid.
- Indian government aims to raise $8-10 billion through sale of stake in BPCL.
- Time not fit for investing in refining as demand is there for oil and chemicals and not conventional products – Aramco
- India unlikely to get deserved price in BPCL stake sale in current environment. “If big firms are backing out, this will definitely hurt the share price and valuation of BPCL” – Kiran Jadhav – Asset manager
- Rosneft and Aramco do not see much value in stake as government in Kerala’s Indian state might challenge privatization.
- Privatization likely to spill over to the next year
- BPCL share plunged almost 30% over past year and traded at 386 rupees on Tuesday
Oil markets trading lower to the market crashes and low demand. ROSN is down 0.76%, 2222 is down 0.96%
