suite du 16/6

[frédéric]

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured support to the Rajasthan government in setting up a refinery at Cairn-operated Barmer oilfields raising speculation that the cabinet may include it as an additional condition for approving the USD 9.6 billion Cairn-Vedanta deal.

Rajasthan chief minister Mr Ashok Gehlot who met the Prime Minister confirmed that that Singh had assured his support to the refinery project. He said that "I have told him that the state has agreed to give all fiscal concessions besides making a 26% equity contribution.”

A cabinet minister said that "If Vedanta agrees for an equity participation in the proposed refinery it would certainly make the deal more acceptable, especially to the people of Rajasthan.” He, however, said that technically, approval to the Cairn-Vedanta deal and construction of refinery in Rajasthan were two different things but it could be discussed at the Cabinet Committee in Economic Affairs meeting.

Oil minister Jaipal Reddy had told reporters that the CCEA was soon expected to take a final view on Cairn-Vedanta deal based on a group of ministers' recommendations.

The ministerial panel chaired by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has suggested CCEA to approve the multi-billion dollar deal only if Vedanta and Cairn agree certain conditions such as sharing $4 billion royalty burden in the Rajasthan block with partner ONGC as per a disputed contract. London-based Cairn Energy is awaiting the government's approval to sell a controlling stake in its Indian arm to Anil Agarwal promoted Vedanta Resources since August last year.

The Rajasthan government is in talks with the central government and ONGC for the refinery project. State chief minister said that staterun Engineers India Ltd had also pledged to pick up a 5% equity stake in the proposed Greenfield refinery.

The CM wanted the Prime Minister to persuade state-run ONGC to join the project as lead promoter with 69% equity stake. Mr Gehlot said that "Every major state has a refinery but Rajasthan has none despite producing crude oil in huge quantity. The western Rajasthan is extremely backward in terms of economic development so the (local) people must get the benefit of natural resources.”

An oil ministry official said that "ONGC's stand on the proposed refinery is consistent that economic viability of the project will depend on fiscal and other incentives by governments at the centre and state."

The official said that "Certainly, equity participation by Vedanta or Cairn would minimize risks (for ONGC).”

Spokesmen of Cairn and Vedanta declined comments on the refinery project. Gehlot said that the state government had accepted to grant all fiscal incentives to promoters of the proposed refinery as per the SC Tripathi committee recommendations. He said that "We are willing for further concessions after discussions with the promoters.”

(Sourced from ET)

[frédéric]

Prendont ils une décision un jour ?..........

[cphil31]

Prendont ils une décision un jour ?..........

Se rendent-ils compte, seulement, que leur valse-hésitation est susceptible de faire dérailler tout le processus ?

[frédéric]

(Reuters) - The cabinet on Thursday steered clear of discussing Vedanta Resources' plan to buy British oil explorer Cairn Energy's Indian assets, further delaying what could be one of the largest deals in the Indian oil and gas sector.

"It did not come up today," Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting in New Delhi. Reddy had earlier said the cabinet would review the deal this week or next.

Last month, an Indian ministerial panel said it would refer the deal back to the cabinet, but did not disclose its recommendation, which it said was "unanimous."

A government source told Reuters the panel would recommend that the operators of Cairn Energy's key Indian oil field share the royalty burden in proportion to their stake in the project, a proposal that could derail the deal.

Cairn Energy agreed last August to sell a majority stake in Cairn India to Vedanta in a deal worth up to $9.6 billion but the it has been held up over issues with ONGC, which has a 30-percent holding in the Cairn-operated fields in western India, but pays 100 percent of the royalties.

India's oil ministry has been pushing to share the royalty burden between ONGC and Cairn India, a move opposed by both Cairn and Vedanta. Any change in the royalty structure would impact valuations and could jeopardise the deal, analysts have said.

Vedanta has already acquired 8.1 percent through an open offer to Cairn India's minority shareholders, and snapped up another 10.4 percent from Malaysia's Petronas.

It has also raised $1.65 billion through a private bond offering to help pay for the planned acquisition.

Earlier on Thursday, Cairn Energy said it would replace its current chief executive officer Bill Gammell and announced a sweeping board shake-up.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma and Prashant Mehra; Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and Jui Chakravorty)