China is not the only emerging market that wants to lock up an energy supply.

India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation is working on a bid for YPF, the Argentinian division of Spanish oil company Repsol that two of China's oil companies are going after.

As we wrote earlier this week, China National Petroleum Corp. and Cnooc Ltd. are developing a $17 billion bid for YPF.

ONGC wants to mount a challenging bid, according to senior execs at the company who spoke with the FinancialTimes.

Repsol wants to unload its YPF business, but it's playing coy, telling the FT, "Repsol wants to make it known that it has received various proposals from different companies, although none of them is firm.”

India imports 70% of its oil, and, presumably, would like to have some semblance of energy stability in the future.