BPCL extends rally on reports of Rosneft's interest; surges 13% in 3 days

The government will come out with the expression of Interest (EoI) inviting bidders for the privatisation of BPCL within few days, a media report said.

Shares of Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) were trading higher for the third straight day, up 4 per cent to Rs 500 on the BSE on Wednesday after reports said that Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft was keen to bid for the state-owned oil marketing company.

BPCL has rallied 13 per cent in the past three trading days to hit its highest level since December 17, 2019. It hit an all-time high of Rs 550 in intra-day trade on November 21.

The trading volumes on the counter jumped more than two-fold with a combined 8.77 million shares changing hands on the NSE and BSE till 01:22 pm.

Rosneft is keen to bid for acquisition of BPCL, a PTI report suggested quoting sources after the Russian firm's CEO Igor Sechin met Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday.

Sechin first met Pradhan over breakfast, and then in delegation-level talks expressed interest in bidding for acquisition of government stake in BPCL, an official privy to the discussions said, the report said.

Another separate PTI report said the government will come out with the expression of Interest (EoI) inviting bidders for privatisation of BPCL within a few days.

The Cabinet in November had cleared strategic sale of BPCL. The government currently holds 52.98 per cent stake in the oil marketing and refining firm.

Meanwhile, the board of directors of BPCL is scheduled to meet on Thursday, February 13, 2020, to consider and approve the unaudited financial results of the company for the quarter ended December 31, 2019.