Russia's Rosneft keen to pick stake in BPCL

New Delhi: Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft is keen to bid for acquisition of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), sources said after the Russian firm's CEO Igor Sechin met Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday.

Rosneft, which is the majority owner of India's second-biggest private oil refinery, is keen to expand in the world's third-largest and the fastest-growing energy market.

Sechin first met Pradhan over breakfast, and then in delegation-level talks expressed interest in bidding for the acquisition of government stake in Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), official's privy to the discussions said.

The government is selling all of its 53 per cent stake in BPCL in the country's biggest privatisation plan.

Officials said national oil companies from the Middle East, such as Aramco of Saudi Arabia and ADNOC of UAE, have also been primed for bidding for BPCL.

Sechin, who was here to witness the signing of the first deal with Indian state-owned refinery for supplying crude oil a fixed-term basis, expressed interest in investing more in India, they said.