Sinopec on course to secure Syrian oil assets

China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec) is set to overcome Indian competition and acquire Canada’s Tanganyika Oil, the South China Morning Post reported. Market sources said India’s Oil and National Gas Corp (ONGC) is unlikely to raise its offer to match the US$1 billion-plus bid submitted by Sinopec. Tanganyika, which is listed in Toronto and Sweden, claims to have reserves of more than 5.5 billion barrels of oil in six underdeveloped fields in Syria. Should Sinopec’s bid succeed, it will come as a welcome consolation after losing out last month to ONGC’s US$2.5 billion bid for Russia’s Imperial Energy. Sinopec has also teamed up with China National Offshore Oil Corp to try to beat ONGC to Angolan oil and gas assets owned by US-based Marathon Oil. The assets are expected to fetch about US$1.5 billion.