ONGC Videsh, Hindujas in E&P pact

Jan. 8, 2008
The board of ONGC Videsh has agreed to sign an MOU with Hinduja Group to jointly explore acquisition of overseas acreages, particularly in Iran.

Shirish Nadkarni
OGJ Correspondent

MUMBAI, Jan. 8 -- Seeking to acquire more oil and gas assets abroad, the board of ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL) has agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding with Hinduja Group, London, to jointly explore acquisition of overseas acreages, particularly in Iran. OVL is the overseas arm of India's state-run Oil & Natural Gas Corp.

"Now we will talk to the Iranian authorities on the projects," a senior OVL executive said. "Based on the opportunities, we will form a project-specific joint venture or an SPV."

For developing assets in Iran, OVL and the Hindujas will adopt a collaborative approach. Indications are that they were exploring joint opportunities in Iran's onshore Azadegan oil field and its offshore South Pars Phase 12 gas asset.

The equity structure and investment decision will be finalized once an equity stake in the two blocks is obtained. OVL and the Hindujas were understood to be in talks with a subsidiary of National Iranian Oil Co. for a presence in the two fields.

Azadegan, with reserves estimated at 33 billion bbl, is one of the largest oil fields to be discovered in the world during the past 30 years.

South Pars gas field contains about 50% of Iran's gas resources. Together with its extension, Qatar's North field, it is regarded as the largest offshore gas field in the world.