BPCL spikes 11% on reports of oil majors showing interest in stake sale

NEW DELHI: Shares of state-owned Bharat Petroleum, which the government plans to divest, surged over 11 per cent on Friday after reports said major energy players of the world have shown interest in buying the firm.

The stock jumped 11.10 per cent to Rs 437.80 on BSE. The scrip had climbed nearly 7 per cent in the previous trade.

ET Now on Thursday reported global energy majors like Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, Russia’s Rosneft, Exxon Mobil and Adnoc (Abu Dhabi National Oil Co) are lining up to pick 51% stake in the PSU oil refiner and are in the process of preparing bids.


The Government of India had recently extended the date for bids for BPCL stake to July 31.

The reports, citing advisors working on this transaction, say that most bids are likely to come around Rs 1.2 lakh crore mark versus the current market capitalisation of Rs 90,000 crore.

Among Indian oil majors, Vedanta, who had earlier shown interest, is unlikely to participate in this round as they are busy in the delisting of the company and do not find the valuations very compelling.

However, Reliance Industries that has recently forged a fuel retailing JV with British Petroleum is keen to participate.