Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and its partner Oil India (OIL) have won an oil block in Libya in their first ever joint overseas foray in oil and gas exploration.The IOC-OIL combine won the onshore Block-086 in the highly prospective Sirte Basin, IOC officials said today.Officials said that under the conditions of the licence, IOC-OIL will get 18.4% share of any future production in the block with the remaining 81.6% going to Libya's National Oil Company.If oil is struck in the licence areas, Libya, which is a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), will fund half of the exploration and development costs.OIL will be the operator of the block, which the IOC-OIL consortium won in the first offering of oil blocks by Libya after the lifting of US sanctions. Three giant US oil companies won 11 of the 15 Libyan oil exploration and production sharing agreements contested by 56 international companies.Officials said IOC-OIL will bid for at least two out of the 40 licences Libya proposes to offer in the second round next month.
