Oil India to tap overseas markets to fund Mozambique block acquisition

MUMBAI (Reuters) - State-run explorer Oil India expects to raise 80-90 percent of the $1 billion it has agreed to pay for a stake in a Mozambique offshore gas block through overseas debt, its chief financial officer said on Monday.

The company has not yet decided the instruments it will tap to raise the debt, T.K. Ananth Kumar told reporters.

Last week, state oil firms ONGC and Oil India agreed to buy a 10 percent stake in Rovuma Area 1 block off Mozambique's coast from India's Videocon Group for $2.48 billion.

Oil India will pay $1 billion for a 4 percent stake, while ONGC Videsh will hold the balance.

 

Anadarko Petroleum Corp , the operator of Rovuma's Area 1 block, in which it holds a 36.5 percent stake, and Videocon had each launched an auction of a 10 percent stake in the block earlier this year.

Ananth Kumar said ONGC's overseas business unit was in talks to buy Anadarko's 10 percent stake, and Oil India was not in the fray for the same.

Sources told Reuters last month the two Indian companies had also made a bid for Anadarko's 10 percent stake. (Reporting by Prashant Mehra; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)