OVL to buy 11% stake in Sudan oil field

The government has approved the proposal of ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) to acquire 11 per cent stake in a 744-million barrel oil field in Sudan for $125.4 million.

The proposal was cleared by the Cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) at its meeting last evening, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik told newsmen on the sidelines of an International Energy Agency seminar here. The minister said OVL would buy out 6 per cent stake of Gulf Petroleum Corp of Qatar in Block 3 and 7 for $68.4 million and UAE's al-Thani Group's 5 per cent stake in the field for $57 million.

He said the CCEA also decided the total exposure of OVL in Sudan would not exceed $1 billion. OVL had previously acquired Talisman Energy Plc's 25 per cent stake in 260,000 barrels-a-day Greater Nile oil project for $699 million and recently acquired a quarter of share in Blocks 5A and 5B for $136 million. "The technical issues in this will be sorted out between the ministries of petroleum and finance," Naik said.

Exploration Block 3 and 7, in Eastern Malut basin of Sudan, are estimated to go on production from 2005 and reach 10 million tonnes per year. "India's take from the blocks will be over 1 million tonne of crude oil annually," the minister said.