The Hindu Business Line : Essar bids for three oil, gas blocks in Iran

Essar Group, which has six hydrocarbon assets abroad, has bid for oil and gas blocks in Iran. Sources said, “National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) had put on offer 17 offshore and onshore oil and gas blocks for exploration and development. Essar through its Mauritius-based investment arm, Essar Infrastructure Holding Ltd, has bid for three blocks.”

While declining to disclose any further details, sources told Business Line that Essar has bid for two onshore and one offshore asset. These are Naft Shahr onshore block, Bandar Abbas onshore block and Laleh offshore block.

NIOC had recently extended the original deadline of the bids from June 20 to August 1. The reason cited for extension was request from several international companies, which had purchased relevant documents, but had not had enough time to submit bids.

Huge potential

The 17 blocks include five offshore and 12 onshore, spread across nine provinces in the country, covering a 1,29,000 km area. Iran sits on the world’s second largest oil and gas reserves, a huge potential prize for international oil companies.

Essar has bid alone for these blocks, sources added. Recently, Essar submitted bids along with Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd for a block in Syria. Currently Essar, through Essar Exploration and Production, holds two blocks in Mynamar, three in Madagascar and one in Nigeria. Essar has been scouting for opportunities in upstream sector in 12 countries in West Asia, Central Asia, South-East Asia and Africa.

The company plans to produce 1,50,000 barrels of oil a day from its domestic and overseas fields in the next three years. The two blocks in Myanmar are Block L (on land) and A-2 (offshore).

These are located along the Rakhine Coast, Indian Ocean and in the vicinity of recent offshore gas discoveries and on land oil shows forming a part of the same structural trends from Assam and Bangladesh to the Andamans.

Nigeria block

Earlier this year, Essar bagged one shallow offshore block in Nigeria through an open bidding process.

The block in Nigeria is a significant development in Essar’s efforts to have a global presence. The company currently has stakes in two blocks in Myanmar, one each in offshore and onshore, apart from three blocks in Madagascar. Domestically, Essar has a stake in Ratna R-series and Mehsana blocks.

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