OVL plans to bid for two oil blocks in Angola

The initial bids have to be submitted by May.

ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, is eyeing two blocks in Angola.

OVL had recently lost the race for a deepwater block in the country to ENI of Italy.

"We do not have plans to tie up with any other company for the purpose and will compete for the blocks on our own. The initial bids have to be submitted by May," a company executive told Business Standard. He, however, declined to divulge details on the two blocks as the bids were yet to be submitted.

The first setback for OVL came in 2004, when Angola's state-owned oil firm used its pre-emption right to thwart OVL's attempt to buy Shell's 50 per cent stake in Block 18 at a consideration of $600 million.

In the latest round, OVL's bid of a signature bonus of $150 million was understood to be way below ENI's bid of $902 million.

Other companies that were ahead of OVL included China's Sinopec with an offer of $750 million, Total ($560 million), Petrobras ($265 million) and Statoil ($254 million).

Given the range of the bids, OVL could not have bid for the project without the Union Cabinet's approval. As per investment rules, OVL cannot invest above Rs 300 crore on its own. The company even lost out on Nigerian blocks recently despite clinching the deal due to a delay in government approval .

OVL now has prepared a proposal for increasing the limit for investment for which it can decide on its own to Rs 1,000 crore. The proposal has been forwarded for Cabinet approval.

"We did a study on the size of the overseas blocks and found that the average size was worth over $500 million, which is why we have proposed this limit," the executive said.