GAIL (India) and U.S. arm of France’s EDF group have placed a joint bid to acquire some of Spanish energy company Repsol SA’s LNG assets in Trinidad and Tobago.
“We have placed a non-binding bid,” GAIL Chairman and Managing Director B. C. Tripathi told reporters here.
Repsol has put on sale its gas assets in Canada, Peru and Trinidad & Tobago.
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Refusing to divulge details, Mr. Tripathi said the bids, which were submitted recently, were initial, and non-binding in nature.
GAIL-EDF combine would make a financial bid only once they were short-listed, he added. GAIL had last week tied up with EDF Trading for jointly acquiring oil and gas assets in North America and trading of U.S. gas/liquefied natural gas (LNG). The memorandum of understanding (MoU) entailed the two firms jointly acquiring shale gas assets in North America as well as the French firm investing in downstream trading and marketing venture in India.
GAIL already has a 20 per cent stake in Carrizo Oil’s Eagle Shale gas assets in Texas, U.S., and has also signed to import 3.5 million tonnes of liquid gas, called LNG, from Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass shale gas project in Louisiana.
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Interim dividend
Meanwhile, GAIL, on Friday, reported an 18 per cent rise in the December quarter net profit at Rs.1,285 crore against Rs.1,091.42 crore in the same period in the previous year on the back of higher revenues from gas trading.
Total income increased to Rs 12,658.37 crore for the said quarter from Rs.11,315.50 crore in the same period in the previous fiscal.
The company board approved an interim dividend of Rs 4 per equity share for the current fiscal.