India's largest oil group is in talks with BP to buy its Vietnamese assets as the UK company works towards the $10bn of sales it has targeted in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
R.S. Sharma, chairman of the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, told the Financial Times that he would be in Hanoi on Wednesday with Murli Deora, India's oil minister, to discuss the deal with the Vietnamese authorities and PetroVietnam, the state oil company. He said the matter would also discussed with David Cameron, the UK prime minister, on his official visit to New Delhi next week.
BP intends to sell all of its assets in Vietnam and Pakistan, except for its lubricants business, in its drive to raise $10bn to help pay for the Gulf oil spill clean up and compensation.