Argentine oil tycoon targets Sterling Energy-paper

LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) - Argentine oil tycoon Carlos Bulgheroni is behind a bid for London-listed oil company Sterling Energy (SEY.L: Quote, Profile, Research), The Sunday Times reported.

Bulgheroni, who is understood to have made an offer in the last few weeks, wants to take over the company in order to get a foothold in Iraqi Kurdistan, where Sterling holds an oil field licence, the paper said.

His approach, which valued Sterling at below its 50 million pound ($82 million) market value, did not impress shareholders, The Sunday Times said.

Sterling, which has been hit by a fall in U.S. natural gas prices, said last month it was in talks with a number of third parties and was seeking a sale of some of its assets.

It declined to comment on The Sunday Times report.

($1=.6093 Pound)

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Simon Jessop)