Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Jun 05, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Jun 05, 2004 |
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Corporate
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Mergers & Acquisitions ONGC Videsh eyeing acquisitions — Surveying properties in W. Africa, CIS, Latin America Our Bureau
Mr. Subir Raha (right), Chairman and Managing Director, ONGC, with Mr R.S. Butola, Managing Director, ONGC Videsh Ltd, at a press conference in the Capital on Friday. - Ramesh Sharma
New Delhi , June 4 ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), is surveying oil and gas properties in West Africa, CIS countries and Latin America to acquire assets or equity stakes. It plans to invest around $1 billion per annum in this regard. "For the last three years we have invested on an average $1 billion every year towards acquisition of oil and gas fields abroad. We can sustain (this investment) for quite some time," the OVL Chairman, Mr Subir Raha, said at a press conference here on Friday. In Latin America, the company is looking at oil and gas assets in Venezuela and Brazil. So far, the company has taken equity stakes in several overseas oil and gas blocks. These include a 20 per cent stake in the Sakhlalin block in Russia and a 25 per cent in the producing Greater Nile Oil Project (GNOP) in Sudan. Besides GNOP, it has also acquired stakes in 5A and 5B exploration blocks in Sudan and a 50 per cent stake in a gigantic oil field in Angola. "Last fiscal we invested about Rs 1,300 crore in acquiring oil properties and developing some of them. This year our investment may be Rs 7,500 crore," the Managing Director, Mr R.S. Butola, said. According to Mr Raha, OVL's Sakhalin block is expected to yield oil and gas by late 2005 while the Angola block and the Block 5A in Sudan are expected to commence production by 2006. During fiscal 2003-04, GNOP yielded 3.232 million tonnes (mt). Of this, the company's net produce works out 1.2 mt, owing to liabilities like Government royalties. It realised a price of $26-29 per barrel for the Sudan crude during fiscal 2003-04. "Besides, the A-1 gas field in offshore Myanmar, where a huge gas find (with reserves of 5-8 trillion cubic feet) was made earlier this year, is likely to go on production by 2008," Mr Raha added. Additionally, the company has stakes in oil fields in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Libya. According to Mr Butola, OVL's Block 8 in Iraq holds good prospects for oil. He was confident that once the new administration takes over in Iraq, work could commence on the block. The block was awarded to the company by the erstwhile Saddam Hussein government.
More Stories on : Mergers & Acquisitions | Petroleum
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