ONGC-Mittal wins 2 tcf gas block in Trinidad

India-born billionaire Lakshmi N Mittal's joint venture with ONGC Videsh has won a gas block in Trinidad and Tobago that is estimated to have reserves of two trillion cubic feet.

ONGC-Mittal Energy won the offshore block NCMA-2 beating Britain's Centrica in Trinidad and Tobago's latest bidding round, industry sources said. Trinidad and Tobago had in January 2006 offered eight onshore and three shallow marine blocks for bidding. OMEL and Centrica were tied for NCMA-2 when bids came in April this year and Trinidad and Tobago's Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries invited the two to submit new proposals. OMEL edged out Centrica in revised bids, sources said. This is OMEL's second biggest success after Nigeria where it had acquired two exploration blocks.

Mittal had in July 2005 inked a JV with OVL for acquisition of oil and gas fields, refinery business and LNG projects in 27 countries.

The July 2005 agreement had classified target countries into Schedule-I and II.

Mittal and ONGC had agreed to participate on an exclusive basis through OMEL in Schedule-I countries such as Angola, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Romania, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. In the Schedule-II countries of Bosnia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Sudan, Macedonia, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, South Africa, UK and the US, the two partners agreed to bid jointly on a case-to-case basis.