Cabinet May Consider Cairn-Vedanta Deal Next Wk

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[<p>The cabinet may consider approval for the sale of a stake of British oil explorer Cairn Energy's India unit to Vedanta Resources next week, Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said on Friday.<br><br>Cairn agreed in August to sell up to 51 per cent of Cairn India for up to $9.6 billion to Vedanta Resources, in a deal which originally had a cut-off date of May 20.<br><br>The deal has been delayed due to a dispute over royalty payments with Cairn India's partner in the Rajasthan project, state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp.<br><br>Reddy also said the government was considering a proposed deal between India's largest listed firm Reliance Industries which wants to sell a stake in 23 of its oil and gas blocks, including some in the KG basin, to BP in a $7.2 billion transaction.<br><br>The minister also said no dates had yet been fixed for a meeting of a ministerial panel to consider increasing fuel prices. He said he was concerned at the under-recoveries of state-run oil marketing firms due to higher global crude prices.<br><br>(Reuters)</p>