Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, who wants to make it big in oil after forming the world's largest steel empire, has lost a bid for taking over Nigeria's biggest oil refinery.
Mittal offered lesser than the $561-million winning bid by a consortium of three Nigerian indigenous companies for acquiring 51 per cent of government stake in Port Harcourt refinery, industry sources said.
The winning Blue Star consortium comprises Zenon Oil, Dangote Oil and Gas and Transnational Corp, which belong to close associates of outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Blue Star emerged winner of the refinery in an open bid conducted on Thursday by the Nigerian privatisation agency -- Bureau of Public Enterprises in Abuja.
Two other bidders, local fuel marketer Oando and the Sahara/Refinee PetroPlus, were disqualified for not providing bank drafts to cover 50 per cent of their