Alkor Petro acquires 7 O&G blocks

Hyderabad-based Alkor Petroo Limited, a vertical company of Gorlas Group, has acquired seven oil and gas (O&G) exploration blocks "� three in the Cambay basin and two each in Yemen and Egypt "� taking its asset portfolio to 14 blocks.

The two-year-old firm, which claims to be the largest O&G exploration and production company from Andhra Pradesh with an exploration acreage of 74,000 square kilometres, would operate these blocks with its joint venture partners such as Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

"Agreements for supply of oil and associated gas to local companies are already in place, and we expect to produce around 1,000 barrels of oil and oil-equivalent gas per day by 2009," G Saibabu, chairman and managing director of Gorlas Group, told mediapersons here on Tuesday.

Stating that the Rs 45-crore group intends to invest $107 million in these blocks over the next three to four years, he said they were currently weighing various options to raise funds for the purpose. He, however, declined to reveal further details.

Meanwhile, the group's housing and urban infrastructure development arm, Jayadarshini Housing Pvt Limited, today announced its integrated township project 'Gorlas Citi'. The 230-acre project, coming up at Medchal on the outskirts of Hyderabad, would be developed in two phases.

The first phase, comprising 450 villas, apartments and a business park, involves an investment of Rs 250 crore and would be completed within three years.

"Investments in phase-I would be through a mix of debt and internal accruals, while we are looking for a private equity partner for the second phase, which would start in a year," Saibabu said.