Shirish Nadkarni
OGJ Correspondent
MUMBAI, July 19 -- Ecuador, which currently produces about 550,000 b/d of oil and exports about 140,000 bbl, is expected to request bids shortly for the Ishpingo-Tambochocha-Tiputini (ITT) oil field exploration and development in Ecuador's northeastern Amazon jungle, near the country's border with Peru.
One of the largest oil fields in Peru, the ITT complex is thought to contain about 900 million bbl of proved reserves and is capable of producing about 190,000 b/d of oil (OGJ, July 17, 2006, Newsletter).
Ecuador is keen to have the national oil companies of India, China, Venezuela, and Colombia participate in the ITT development, and India's state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) is seeking a stake in the complex.
Latin America figures prominently in ONGC's investment plans, and the Indian firm may consider submitting a joint bid with Mittal Steel for the ITT project through the Cyprus-registered consortium ONGC Mittal Energy Ltd. (OMEL).
ONGC's overseas subsidiary ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL) holds 49.98% equity in OMEL, with Mittal Investment Sarl holding 48.02% and SBI Capital Markets, the remaining 2%.
Chinese rivals may provide tough competition for the ITT project, however, having outbid ONGC recently for EnCana Corp. oil assets in Ecuador and paying $4.18 billion to win Calgary-based PetroKazakhstan Inc. (OGJ, Mar. 6, 2006, p. 41).
To push ONGC's prospects of securing a stake in ITT development, India's Petroleum Minister Murli Deora was scheduled to meet Ecuador's foreign minister July 18 in New Delhi during the latter's visit to India.