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), 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)