The ONGC-Mittal combine got a big blow in their effort to garner oil equities abroad. China on Monday outbid India to acquire Petrokazakhstan Inc, Kazakhstan’s third-largest oil producer, after its flagship company China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) upped its offer to beat the Indian giant.CNPC, which trailed ONGC-Mittal group combine when price bids were made on August 15, raised its bid to $4.18 billion to acquire the Canadian oil firm operating in Central Asia. The ONGC-Mittal combine had bid $3.6 billion.According to sources, ONGC-Mittal combine was not given a chance to match or rebid. In an early morning press statement, Petrokazakhstan said CNPC will pay $55 a share in cash.According to ONGC sources, ‘‘The Indians were clearly ahead of Chinese in the first round. The merchant bankers acting on behalf of the seller (Petrokazakhstan) had even sought certain clarifications on their bid on Friday. The Indians were to submit the clarifications on Monday but the sale announcement came before that.’’China seemed very keen to bag the firm after it had received a setback when its flagship firm lost out finally in the bid for Unocal. China’s bid for Unocal had created a flutter in the US on security grounds. In its effort to ensure that CNPC bagged Petrokazakhstan, the Chinese firm raised the bid.Petrokazakhstan made the sale announcement at 0730 hrs London time, at least a couple of hours ahead of the scheduled filing by ONGC-Mittal combine at the London office of the merchant banker.Talking to The Indian Express, ONGC CMD Subir Raha said, ‘‘We missed it by a narrow margin.’’Sources said the Indian consortium had told the merchant bankers on Friday (August 19) that they were willing to better their bid of close to $4 billion if certain information on Petrokazakhstan’s operation was provided. ‘‘That never happened,’’ sources said but were unable to explain why the Indians were not given a chance to rebid.Petrokazakhstan accounts for about 12 per cent of oil production in Kazakhstan and is the third-largest oil producer in that country. It owns 500 million barrels of reserves, 150,000 barrels a day of crude output and a refinery in Kazakhstan. State-owned Kzamunaigas is the largest oil producer in Kazakhstan, followed by Chevron.Calgary-based Petrokazakhstan’s board recommended that its shareholders accept the Chinese oil company’s offer. The transaction is expected to close in October, the company statement said.ONGC had teamed up with Mittals to leverage the steelmaker’s dominant position in former Soviet republics. Out of the 14 countries Mittal group had business interest in, six-seven had oil and gas opportunities. In Kazakhstan, where Mittal group has huge business interest and considerable influence on the government, OVL has been eyeing a stake in Kurmangazy oilfield besides interest in Makhambet and Satpayev exploration blocks. THE CRYING GAME
