Kazakh oil coup for China, India cries foul

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China’s largest oil and gas producer, reached an agreement with PetroKazakhstan Inc on Monday to buy the Canadian-registered company for US$4.18 billion. If the deal closes as expected in October, it would become the largest-ever overseas acquisition for a Chinese firm, breaking the record set when Lenovo acquired IBM’s PC unit.

…The CNPC bid was met with dismay in the Indian press August 23, with the Times of India complaining that “[PetroKazakhstan] played foul to put ONGC-Mittal Energy out of the race”. (…) Most of the complaints centered on the allegation that OME was never allowed the opportunity to match a late increase in CNPC’s bid.

Asia Times