(Adds Repsol CEO comment, details.)
By Bernd Radowitz and Christopher Bjork
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
MADRID -(Dow Jones)- Spanish oil company Repsol YPF SA (REP) has received proposals for a stake in its Argentine unit YPF, but no firm offers, the Spanish oil firm said Thursday.
Persons familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday that Chinese, Russian and Indian companies are interested in buying a stake in YPF. Repsol in a regulatory filing Thursday said it would still like to either carry out an initial public offering or find new partners in YPF.
Repsol canceled plans last year to float 20% of YPF on Argentina's stock exchange due to adverse market conditions. The company has for some time said it wants to reduce its YPF stake and concentrate on regions with a higher expansion potential, such as recently discovered fields in Brazil or the Gulf of Mexico. YPF's market capitalization is currently around $12 billion.
"Repsol ... has received proposals of a different nature and from different companies," Repsol said in a regulatory filing, reacting to several news reports that China National Petroleum Corp., or CNPC, is weighing up a bid for part of YPF.
CNPC, China's biggest oil company by capacity, may bid for some of Repsol's Argentine assets, a person familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires. CNPC is the parent of Hong Kong- and Shanghai-listed PetroChina Co. (PTR).
Separately, a report in the South China Morning Post Thursday, quoting unnamed sources, said CNPC may offer to buy up to three-quarters of YPF. It also said that Cnooc Ltd. (CEO), China's third-largest oil producer by capacity, is eyeing a 25% stake in YPF.
A Cnooc spokesman declined to comment, while a CNPC spokesman said he had no information on the issue.
At 1151 GMT, Repsol's shares were trading up 3%, or EUR0.48, at EUR16.68, while the Spanish market was down 0.3%.
China's oil majors recently have snapped up a series of assets to satisfy the Asian country's growing thirst for crude.
These include the $7.2 billion purchase on June 24 by China Petrochemical Corp., or Sinopec, of oil explorer Addax Petroleum Corp. (AXC.T), CNPC's $3.3 billion purchase of Kazakh oil producer MangistauMunaiGas jointly with Kazakhstan's state-owned KazMunaiGas, and oil-for-loans agreements in Russia and Brazil.
But analysts say the window of opportunity for overseas deals - created by a combination of tight credit supply and the decline in oil prices from a peak above $147 a barrel last July - is closing. Crude oil started 2009 around $44/bbl and has since risen to around $68/bbl, making many companies less willing to sell.
A bid for part of YPF could meanwhile run into political trouble. The Argentine government wants to water down the existing Repsol stake to secure at least 51% control for domestic investors, Argentina's El Cronista newspaper said last month, quoting a government source.
But Repsol Chairman Antonio Brufau last week denied Argentina's government is pressuring Repsol to sell part of its YPF stake. June 23, Brufau also said Repsol wasn't at that time in any concrete negotiations to sell a stake in YPF.
Argentina's Grupo Petersen bought a 14.9% stake in YPF from Repsol in February 2008 for $2.24 billion. The deal included a buy option for an additional 10% stake in YPF.
Repsol is being advised on YPF by U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs Group (GS).
Company Web site: www.repsol.com
-By Bernd Radowitz, Christopher Bjork and David Winning, Dow Jones Newswires, +34-91-395-8120, djmadrid@dowjones.com
(Wan Xu contributed to this article from Beijing.)