Chinese Petroleum may invest in India

State-owned oil company Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油) may invest in an Indian refiner, as the government bars it from investing in China.

Nagarjuna Oil Corp, a subsidiary of Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd, offered to sell a 26 percent stake to Chinese Petroleum, said Quentin Yao (姚坤泰), director at Chinese Petroleum's joint-venture business division.

"We need to target the global market, especially countries with big populations," he said yesterday.

Chinese Petroleum aims to expand overseas as its competition with Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) and government control limits the room for refiners to raise fuel prices.

Crude oil in New York is 46 percent higher than a year ago, about six times the rise in Chinese Petroleum's domestic gasoline prices.

India, with a population of 1.1 billion, is the world's second-most populous nation after China, with 1.3 billion people.

Chinese Petroleum is assessing the Nagarjuna Oil offer, which may become its first investment in an overseas refiner, Yao said.

Chinese Petroleum may allocate funds for the project in 2008 if approved by the Cabinet and parliament, he said.

The government will encourage local manufacturers to invest in India to reduce the current emphasis on China, the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister paper) reported yesterday, citing Minister of Economic Affairs Hwang Ing-san (黃營杉).