ONGC keen to ink deal with Kazakh govt

Lines up billion-dollar projects.

ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) is lining up billion-dollar infrastructure development projects for Kazakhstan to secure oilfields. The company is keen to ink deal with Kazakhstan government for getting the right to explore oil.

The project includes road construction, power generation and water distribution. OVL lined up similar 'oil for road and power' project for Nigeria, recently.

OVL -Lakshmi Mittal combine is eyeing 40-60 per cent share in the unexplored asset of Caspian offshore controlled by Kazakhstan.

"India is keen on getting a comfortable stake in the asset and Kazakhstan gave assurance to India government. The details of the Caspian exploration deal is in the initial stage and nothing has been finalised," source in the petroleum ministry said.

Recently, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) had out-bid ONGC Mittal Energy (OMEL) in PetroKazakh deal. CNPC and the Kazakh state energy company Kazmunaigaz have completed the $700 million pipeline linking Atasu in central Kazakhstan to Alashanku in western China, with an initial capacity of 10 million tonne annually. In the wake of these incidents, the Indian government is keen to get oil blocks in Kazakhstan, said industry sources.

"At present, India is undertaking exploration in two Kazakhstan oil blocks. However, both these assets are not yet proved worthy. The Caspian is a promising region for petroleum and natural gas. Oil and gas production in this region is economically attractive, as the quality of the oil is high and the cost of prospecting is two to three times lower than in developed countries," said sources.

"In order to fund its higher capital investment for overseas expansion plans, ONGC is planning to float an offshore bond issue and divest stake in Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Gas Authority of India (GAIL) among other strategies to raise finance. ONGC is in talks with merchant bankers and investment bankers to structure the bond issue," he said.

OVL is in a bid to acquire 45 per cent stake in the Akpo field in Nigeria, which has an estimated reserve of 1.6 billion barrels of oil. Earlier, OMEL had signed an MoU with the Nigerian government for operatorship of two blocks and assured supplies of 650,000 barrels of oil per day for 25 years. The oil block is expected to cost the OMEL around $ 2 billion.