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ONGC Videsh to get a piece of big Russian oil field

By Anuradha Verma

  • 04 Sep 2015
ONGC Videsh to get a piece of big Russian oil field
Reuters | Credit: The production from the field is around 442,000 barrels per day of crude oil

ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas investment arm of India's largest oil and gas explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, has decided to acquire 15 per cent equity stake in largest Russian oil producer Rosneft's Vankor oil field in Siberia, according to a press release.

Financial details of the deal, however, have not been disclosed by the companies. However, separate news agencies pegged the deal value at $1.3 billion.

The field—Vankor oil and gas condensate field—is Russia's second biggest in Turukhansk district of Krasnoyarsk territory. The daily production from the field is around 442,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil on an average with ONGC Videsh's share of daily oil production at around 66,000 bpd.

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Currently, Rosneft owns 100 per cent stake in Vankorneft, the developer of the field.

The acquisition is subject to relevant board, government and regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed by mid-2016.

Earlier this year, Minister of State for Petroleum, Oil and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, who holds independent charge of the ministry, had said ONGC Videsh is in talks to acquire stake in two Siberian oilfields, without naming them.

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In 2013, ONGC Videsh, along with Oil India Ltd, acquired Videocon Industries’ 10 per cent participating interest in Rovuma Area 1 Offshore Block in Mozambique for $2.475 billion (Rs 14,750 crore).

The same year, it signed definitive agreements to acquire additional 12 per cent participating interest (PI) in Block BC-10, Brazil as part of stake sale initiated by local energy giant Petrobras, for $529.03 million.

In 2008, it had also bought Russia-focused Imperial Energy for $2.1 billion.

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At present, ONGC Videsh has 36 projects in 17 countries, including Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Columbia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Libya, Mozambique, Myanmar, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Vietnam and New Zealand. It is currently producing 167,000 barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas per day and has total oil and gas reserves of about 647 mmtoe as on March 31, 2015.

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