Geo-political disturbances in Syria and Sudan impacted production of ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas subsidiary of public sector explorer ONGC.

OVL's output came down to 8.753 million tonnes (mt) of oil and oil equivalent gas in 2011-12 against 9.448 mt in 2010-11, Mr R.P.N. Singh, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, informed Rajya Sabha.

In reply to another question Mr Singh said that OVL failed to drill a well at Block 128 in Vietnam. This is because of severe logistic constraints in anchoring the rig on a hard sea bottom at the proposed drilling location.

At the same time, sovereignty over areas of the South China Sea is disputed between many countries in the region. “India is not a party to this dispute. As two developing countries with growing energy needs, India and Vietnam have been co-operating in the oil and gas sector to enhance their energy security,” Mr Singh added.

Till March this year, OVL has invested $ 14.7 billion.

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