Indian
firm in talks with ExxonMobil for 30 percent stake in a Brazilian
field
AFP
NEW
DELHI
Petroleumworld.com 02 01 06
India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Videsh is in talks with
US energy firm ExxonMobil to buy its 30 percent stake in a Brazilian
oil field, a senior company official said Tuesday.
"We are still in talks to close the deal," the official
told AFP refusing to divulge what the overseas arm of Oil and
Natural Gas planned to pay for the stake.
Indian Media reports however said the company offered 1.4 billion
dollars.
Oil and Natural Gas Videsh (OVL) is wholly-owned by India's Oil
and Natural Gas Corporation.
Anglo-Dutch giant Royal Dutch/Shell is the operator of the field
with 35 percent stake in the Campos Basin oilfield. Brazil's state-owned
Petrobras has the remaining 35 percent stake.
The final agreement is subject to pre-emption rights of Shell
and Petrobras.
"Their approval was contingent to OVL getting a stake,"
the official said.
According to a report in the Financial Times, ONGC officials said
the deal had been approved by the Indian government.
Indian media reports said the federal cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs had last month approved OVL's proposal to invest 820 million
dollars in the Brazilian field.
The deal reportedly included 330 million dollars to buy the equity
of ExxonMobil's Brazilian subsidiary and 490 million dollars for
development costs.
The 30 percent stake represents OVL's most valuable asset overseas
since the firm paid 2.7 billion dollars for the ExxonMobil-operated
20 percent stake in Russia's Sakhalin-1 project in western Siberia.
OVL has interests in Sudan, Libya, Myanmar, Iran, Iraq and Syria.
India, which imports 70 percent of its energy needs, is keen to
buy more oil assets abroad to ensure steady supply for its growing
economy.
India's new oil minister Murli Deora, who took charge from Mani
Shankar Aiyar on Monday after a cabinet reshuffle over the weekend,
told reporters he would continue to steer India's strategy of
ensuring supplies to fuel its seven to eight percent economic
growth.
AFP
01 31 2006
Copyright
© 2006 AFP. All rights reserved
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