China PetroChemical Corporation (Sinopec), China's second largest oil producer, is in a bid to takeover a Russian petroleum company, a news report said Monday.

The Shanghai Securities News reported that Sinopec had joined Rosneft, Russia's state-owned oil company, to bid for Udmurtneft, a subsidiary of TNK-BP, Russia's second largest oil company.

The outcome of the sale will be decided in July. If successful, Sinopec would have access to 26 oil fields in Russia with its partner, said Shanghai Securities News.
Sinopec, together with Rosneft, proposed their offer in May, according to the newspaper.

TNK-BP's key production enterprise in the Udmurtia Republic, Udmurtneft produced nearly six million tons of oil annually, accounting for over 60 percent of production in Udmurtia.

The major rival in the bid for Udmurtneft is ONGC, India's state-owned oil company, said the newspaper.

Through its subsidiary ONGC Videsh, ONGC and Itera, a subsidiary of Russian gas giant Gazprom, made a joint bid.

The highest offer to date was 3.5 billion US dollars, but the offer of Sinopec was unavailable, the Shanghai Securities News reported.

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China's largest oil producer, successfully acquired Canada-based PetroKazakhstan Inc. for 4.18 billion US dollars last October in the largest overseas takeover ever made by a Chinese company.

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), China's largest offshore oil company, made the second largest overseas transaction by a Chinese oil company when it acquired a 45 percent stake in an offshore oil production license in Nigeria for 2.268 billion US dollars in cash in January.

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