The Hindu Business Line : Aiyar to lead delegation to Kazakhstan

Mr Aiyar is leading the Indian delegation for the fifth Indo-Kazakh Joint Commission meeting to be held in Kazakhstan's Capital of Astana on February 17 and 18.

Though the Indian delegation will have representatives from other sectors such as information technology, biotechnology and science and technology, the primary focus will be on energy cooperation with Kazakhstan, which is rich in oil and gas.

The team, which comprises among others, Mr R.S. Butola, Chairman, ONGC Videsh, and Mr Talmiz Ahmed, Additional-Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (who will be moving shortly to the Petroleum Ministry), hopes to push India's case as a partner in the development of the Kazakh oil industry.

India has tasted little success till now in Kazakhstan where the big multinationals and China have been successful in bagging contracts for development of major oil and gas fields.

With the better-known properties already in the bag of the big multinationals, India is focussing on the relatively smaller, unexplored fields.

"There is a possibility of India offering to make seismic surveys in Kazakhstan in the unexplored fields if only to establish itself as a serious, long-term player in that country," Mr Aiyar said.

The Darkhan exploration block with estimated reserves of three billion barrels of oil as well as some other blocks with estimated reserves of between 400 million and 700 million barrels are good prospects in this regard, according to Mr Aiyar.

In addition, efforts will also be made to see if Indian firms can secure an entry into that country as operators or at least as joint operators with the existing or potential partners. India will also offer its expertise in improved oil recovery/enhanced oil recovery techniques to Kazakhstan for its older, producing fields.

Mr Aiyar said that it could be possible to link the Caspian oil to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas assuming that India is given a substantial field in the Caspian Sea.

The joint commission will also discuss a proposal to establish an Almaty Software Technology Park for which a representative from the Software Technology Parks of India will be going with the team.

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