Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Aug 31, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Aug 31, 2004 |
||
|
|
||
|
Corporate
-
Mergers & Acquisitions Industry & Economy - Petroleum OVL acquires 55 pc stake in Australian offshore block Our Bureau
Bangalore , Aug. 30 THE state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has signed a pact with Canada's Antrim Energy to buy its 55 per cent stake in offshore exploration block in offshore Australia. The deal was signed by ONGC's overseas arm, ONGC Videsh Ltd, last Friday and will be effective after the Australian authority gives its nod, a company statement said. Antrim Energy will retain a 32.5 per cent stake in the block and operate the area. The remaining 12.5 per cent stake will be held by Australia-based Magellan Petroleum Pty Ltd. Block WA 306 P, located in the North West Shelf in Offshore Australia is spread over an area of 4,600 square km, contains a cluster of drilling prospects in Barcoo Sub-basin, the statement said. Referring to its maiden Australian buyout, the Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Subir Raha, said in a statement, "... We believe that this opening should pave way for OVL's participation in many other opportunities in the Australian hydrocarbon sector. The block has a good potential and we expect to spud the first well in the coming few weeks." Mr Stephen Greer, Chairman and CEO of Antrim added, "OVL's participation in this strategic farm-out underscores the high potential of our Australian drilling operation." ONGC has, so far, invested more than $2 billion in oil exploration ventures overseas, including Russia and Sudan. The company plans to annually spend Rs 5,000 crore in overseas exploration in the next three years. Local firms such as ONGC and Reliance are increasingly buying stake in foreign energy fields as the country imports close to 70 per cent of its crude oil requirements. India is expected to import 100 million tonne of crude this fiscal. Last year, ONGC bought 25 per cent stake in Sudan's Greater Nile project from Canada's Talisman Energy and bought stakes in two Sudanese blocks from Austrian oil group OMV.
More Stories on : Mergers & Acquisitions | Petroleum
Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | The Hindu Images | Home |
Copyright © 2004, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|