Russia's state-controlled oil company OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) may ultimately get a stake in the assets of Russia-based Imperial Energy Corp. (IEC.LN), once they are acquired by a third party, people familiar with the matter said Monday.
Earlier Monday, Dow Jones Newswires, citing a person familiar with the situation, reported that Imperial had received a second bid approach, from China Petrochemical Corp., also known as Sinopec Group.
"Sinopec can't buy it without a state partner", Rosneft or OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) one person familiar with previous Russian assets sales said. Another person said that Gazprom isn't behind the approaches. Dow Jones Newswires reported in July that India's state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (500312.BY), or ONGC, would bid for Imperial. A person familiar with the matter said July 29 that the bidder is likely to make the formal offer by the end of August. It isn't clear when the second bidder might make its offer, if at all.
Rosneft and ONGC are partners in the Sakhalin-1 project.
Sinopec bought Russian oil producer Udmurtneft in 2006, and later sold 51% to Rosneft.
At 1411 GMT, shares in Imperial were 80 pence, or 7.5%, higher at 1,154 pence in a weaker London market.