``Angola is the next country where we are going to concentrate,'' Indian Oil Minister Murli Deora said in an interview in New Delhi. ``We lost because our bid wasn't good enough'' in previous auctions, he said. ``We have learned from this,'' the minister said.

State-run refiners from India and China are among 43 companies that have submitted bids for 11 oil blocks in Angola, OPEC's fastest-growing member. India's oil shortage has spurred Deora to turn to Angola, with reserves equivalent to 11 years of India's crude imports, after losing out to China in $10 billion of auctions in three years.

India's energy independence has been threatened because it hasn't been able to increase production at home, where output from three-decade-old fields is declining while economic growth boosts demand for gasoline and diesel. India will also compete for oil in Nigeria, Africa's biggest producer, and Sudan.