• In New Delhi, India signed a preliminary agreement with the National Iranian Oil Company unofficially estimated to be worth $40bn that committed the country to import liquefied natural gas and develop two Iranian oilfields and a gas field. Mani Shankar Aiyar, the Indian oil minister, said: “Every last detail has been settled, price too.” According to the Iranian deal, India will import 7.5m tonnes of LNG starting in 2009 for the next 25 years. India's ONGC will also help develop the Iranian oilfields in exchange for 90,000 barrels a day of crude oil.
• Separately, India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation said it was in talks about investing in part of Yukos, the Russian oil group broken up in a state-backed auction last year. Officials from New Delhi's petroleum ministry told India's Business Standard newspaper that ONGC may soon place a $2bn bid for a stake in Yuganskneftegas, the main production unit of Yukos. Subir Raha, ONGC's chairman and managing director, told reporters that the company was “in touch with the concerned Russian entities about the Yukos assets and other opportunities in Russia”. A spokesman for Mr Raha warned that the deal was in its early stages and that the company was “discouraged” by the liabilities of Yukos, which is being pursued by the Russian authorities for billions of dollars in unpaid taxes.

On Thursday, the Financial Times revealed that China's state-owned oil giant, CNOOC, was considering a $13bn bid for Unocal of the US in what would be the largest overseas acquisition by a Chinese company.

• Commenting on the Chinese approach, Leo Drollas, deputy chief executive at the Centre for Global Energy Studies, drew a contrast with neighbouring Japan. “They have obviously looked at the whole energy market and looked at the lack of success with the Japanese exploration strategy and decided the best way to buy supply was through a takeover of a private company,” said Mr Drollas.