The Hindu Business Line : OVL-led consortium strikes oil in Iran

Black gold Drilling of three wellsdone by ONGC's own rig
Farsi block spans area of 3,500 sq km
No timeframe on start of oil production

New Delhi , Nov 14

A consortium led by ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) has struck oil at three offshore exploration wells drilled in the joint venture Farsi block in Iran.

This is the first block where OVL as an operator has struck oil, a senior ONGC official said.

The results have been encouraging and geological testing is going on to determine the extent of the commercially recoverable oil in the block, he added.

He told Business Line that the drilling of the three wells - BB4, BB5 and BB6 - was done by ONGC's own rig, Kedarnath.

In all, four exploratory wells are to be drilled in the block.

The Farsi block was awarded to the OVL-led consortium in 2002 by the National Iranian Oil Company through a bidding process.

ONGC is the operator of the block with 40 per cent stake.

Indian Oil Corporation holds 40 per cent in it, while Oil India holds 20 per cent.

The block spans 3,500 sq km.

The official said that no timeframe could be given immediately for the commencement of commercial oil production at the block.

In view of the unfavourable demand-supply balance of hydrocarbons in the country, acquiring equity oil and gas assets overseas is being seen as one of the important components of enhancing energy security.

OVL has a presence in 15 countries - Russia, Sudan, Vietnam, Iran, Libya, Syria, Myanmar, Iraq, Egypt, Qatar, Cuba, Nigeria, Sao-Tome-Principe Joint Development Zone, Colombia and Brazil.

The company has a target of acquiring 20 MMTPA of oil and oil equivalent gas production by 2020.

It produced 6.62 million tonnes of oil and equivalent gas in 2005-06 from its assets in Sudan, Vietnam and Russia.