ONGC in bid to acquire Russia's Imperial Energy

14 July 2008

Mumbai: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India Ltd (ONGC) is in talks with UK's Imperial Energy Corp Plc, a £1billion-plus (around $2 billion) oil and gas company registered in Leeds, for a possible takeover.

London-listed Imperial Energy, in response to press speculation on a takeover approach having been made said on its website, "the board of Imperial confirms that it has received an approach which may or may not lead to an offer being made for the Company."

With just 10,000 barrels per day of current production, imperial has a growing portfolio of oil and gas interests in West Siberia and has recoverable reserves of around 900,000 barrels.

Imperial, which last month announced its biggest find and potentially added to its reserve base and increased the potential value of the firm, is unlikely to accept a bid below 12 pounds per share, sources close to the development said.

Imperial Energy has oil assets in the Tomsk region of western Siberia in Russia and north-central Kazakhstan.

Imperial Energy has a market capitalisation of £789.31 million.