Global oil majors eye Indian gas field stake

India's Gujarat State Petroleum Corp. has got offers from more than 13 international oil companies, including Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP Plc, BG Group, for buying up to 30% equity in one of its gas fields, a senior company official said Thursday.

About the preliminary offer, submitted by the oil companies to buy a stake in one of India's biggest gas field, the official said, "We have been overwhelmed by the response. Several large international companies that include Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA), BG Group PLC (BG.LN) and BP PLC (BP) have submitted their offers to pick up a stake."

State-owned exploration firm GSPC struck gas off India's southeast coast in June last year, and the gas field, located in the Krishna Godavari basin, is estimated to hold over 20 trillion cubic feet of gas, valued at about $ 50 billion.

"We have received expressions of interest from companies who have the expertise in deepwater drilling," an official at the unlisted Indian firm, who wished to be anonymous, said.

Under the deal, the winner will purchase a stake and jointly operate the GSPC field. GSPC has an 80% stake in the field and plans to go public this year.

'Twelve companies have shown interest to work with us in the KG basin. We are evaluating the offers and will soon finalize the deal,' said state Energy Minister Saurabh Patel.

GSPC is the operator in this offshore shallow water block where the well No. 3 has been discovered with the potential reserves at the depth of 5,000 metre. In addition to 20 trillion cubic feet found last year, last month GSPC struck more gas along with some oil from its KG Din Dayal block well no 4. The new find is at 3,500 metre depth and from a crater which is stretched in 60 to 90 square km area.

Shares in the firm's subsidiary, gas transporter Gujarat State Petronet Ltd, soar more than 1% to Rs. 33.95 on the news but afterwards dropped in line with a weak Mumbai market to Rs. 33.15.

Other companies in the scuffle are: Brazil's Petrobras, Malaysia's Petronas, Italy's ENI, Norway's Statoil, Spain's Repsol YPF, US-based Anadarko Petroleum Corp, Canada's Husky Energy Inc and United Arab Emirates-based Crescent Petroleum.