Oil India (OIL) has teamed up with Engineers India Ltd (EIL) to bid for BPCL’s 61.65% stake in Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL).
The boards of the two state-run firms approved on Thursday their plans to jointly bid and, if successful, acquire BPCL’s stake in NRL that operates a 3 million tonnes a year refinery in Assam.
While deciding on BPCL’s privatisation, the government has decided last year to hive off NRL and sell it to a government-owned company.
“The exact percentage of the stake of OIL and EIL will depend on the extent of Right of First Offer (ROFO) to be exercised by Government of Assam which already holds 12.35% stakes in NRL,” Oil India said in a statement. OIL India already owns a 26% stake in NRL.
“The acquisition is expected to improve the synergy in Oil India’s portfolio,” Oil India said. NRL is also the largest customer of OIL’s crude produced from its North-Eastern fields.
EIL said it would help the company diversify into downstream oil and gas operations.
