Was the price right for Onaco?(Brief Article)

Tyumen Oil's bid of $1.08bn for an 85pc share in Onaco surprised observers. And analysts expect it will have to raid its accounts again, before it can achieve control of the vertically integrated oil company (see p2).

Tyumen's bid came in, at best, at the very top of valuation ranges for the company. Analysts say the firm paid around $23/bl for the firm's 158,000 b/d, and a minimum of 50-60[cts.]/bl for its reserves. The figures are roughly comparable to the stock market's valuations of Russia's blue-chip oil firms.

But these figures apply only if Tyumen has managed to acquire control of 100pc of Onaco's cash flow -- and that has been thrown into doubt by …