China National in YPF talks with Repsol: report

MADRID (Reuters) - State-run China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) is among bidders looking to buy the Argentinian unit of Spanish oil major Repsol (REP.MC: Quote, Profile, Research), news agency Bloomberg quoted a Chinese government official as saying.

Zhang Guobao, the vice chairman of China's top planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, said CNPC was holding talks with Repsol, Bloomberg reported.

A Repsol spokesman in Madrid declined to comment on the report. The Spanish company said on Thursday it had received several offers for a stake in its Argentinian unit but declined to say from whom.

Earlier on Friday sources told Reuters that the CNPC, the country's largest oil company, and the China National Offshore Oil Corp Ltd (CNOOC) were competing for approval from the Chinese government to bid for YPF, in a deal that could be worth around $17 billion.

(Reporting by Ben Harding; Editing by David Cowell)