UPDATE: Four Indian Oil Companies To Jointly Bid For BP Vietnam Assets

(Adds comments from executives, details) By Rakesh Sharma and Vu Trong Khanh Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW DELHI (Dow Jones)--A consortium of four Indian state-run companies will likely join with Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, or PetroVietnam, to buy BP PLC's (BP) stake in the Nam Con Son gas project in the Southeast Asian nation, executives at the companies said. "The approach and goal is to combine our strengths with PetroVietnam," Oil India Ltd. (533106.BY) Chairman, N.M. Borah, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference. Apart from Oil India, the consortium includes GAIL (India) Ltd. (532155.BY), Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (532155.BY) and Indian Oil Corp. (530965.BY). BP Tuesday said it plans to sell up to $30 billion of its assets over the next 18 months in an effort to fund the mounting costs of cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. This includes its natural gas assets in Vietnam. BP holds a 35% stake in gas block 06.1 in Vietnam, which is a part of Nam Con Son gas project. ONGC's overseas investment arm, ONGC Videsh Ltd., holds a 45% stake in the gas block and PetroVietnam holds 20%. BP also holds a stake in a pipeline and a power project that utilizes the gas. ONGC's Chairman, R.S. Sharma, Tuesday said a meeting has been held with officials of PetroVietnam and "the results have been encouraging." An official at PetroVietnam said the state-run company is considering buying part of BP's assets. "We are considering (the purchase), but nothing else can be said at this stage," the official, who didn't want to be named, said in Hanoi. Oil India's Borah said the consortium plans to bid with PetroVietnam as the Southeast Asian company has the right of first refusal, and the assistance of a local company would be helpful in Vietnam. Borah said that since the Nam Con Son gas project involves a gas-producing block, a power project and pipelines, the consortium would be in a much better position to bid for the assets. -By Rakesh Sharma and Vu Trong Khanh, Dow Jones Newswires; +91-11-4356-3334; rakesh.sharma@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 27, 2010 10:30 ET (14:30 GMT)