The Hindu : Business : ONGC to step up drilling

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 11, 2006

Business

Business

ONGC to step up drilling

Special Correspondent

Talks under way to buy assets worth $15 billion overseas

GOING GLOBAL: Secretary, Petroleum and Natural Gas, M. S. Srinivasan (right), with ONGC Chairman, Subir Raha, in New Delhi on Friday. — Photo: PTI

NEW DELHI: The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is planning major investment at home and abroad with an 18 per cent rise in spending on the hunt for domestic oil and gas to Rs. 14,000 crore.

Disclosing this here on Friday, ONGC chairman Subir Raha said the company's subsidiary ONGC Videsh Limited and the joint venture company with Lakshmi Mittal, ONGC-Mittal Energy Limited, were holding discussions for acquisitions in many parts of the world. He said discussions were under way for transactions worth over $15 billion.

Speaking on the sidelines of the roadshow to promote the latest round of oil and gas exploration bidding for domestic blocks, he said OVL had joined hands with the Russian oil company, Itera to acquire a subsidiary of TNK-British Petroleum, OAO Udmurtneft, which had licences to develop 26 fields in Russia.

Mangalore SEZ

Meanwhile, a company release says Mr. Raha has been chosen as the chairman of the newly formed Mangalore SEZ company in its first board meeting held on March 9. The meeting was attended by directors representing ONGC, MRPL, the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board, the Kannara Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services.

Qatar LNG for Dabhol

Petroleum Secretary M. S. Srinivasan said negotiations with RasGas of Qatar had been positive and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies would be available for the power project in Maharashtra by the end of December to restart Dabhol project.

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