Ongc Videsh News

Oil output at the giant Exxon-led Sakhalin-1 Russian Pacific project collapsed following the U.S. major's refusal to accept local insurance for tankers after Western insurers pulled out due to sanctions, several industry sources told Reuters. Western insurers withdrew cover from tankers operated by state-run Sovcomflot, Russia's biggest shipping group, which was sanctioned following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. "Exxon has refused to take Sovcomflot's tankers," one industry source said.

US hydrocarbon exploration company Anadarko has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Japanese power company JERA and Taiwanese oil and gas company CPC.The SPA calls for the delivered ex-ship supply of 1.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) for a base term of 17 years from the commercial start date. Mozambique LNG's portfolio of long-term sales now includes four of the top five LNG importing markets in the world."This co-purchasing agreement with JERA and CPC brings together two prominent Asian foundation customers and will ensure a reliable supply of cleaner energy to meet the growing demands of both Japan and Taiwan," said Mitch Ingram…

American petroleum and natural gas exploration and production company Anadarko, on behalf of the Mozambique Area 1 partners, signed a deal with Bharat Gas Resources (BGR) for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) volumes from the Mozambique LNG development.The sale and purchase agreement (SPA) is for 1 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) for a term of 15 years. BGR is a wholly owned subsidiary of Government of India controlled  oil and gas giant Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL)."In addition to BPCL being an upstream equity co-venturer in the Mozambique LNG project, we are also pleased to have them as one of our foundation customers…

U.S. oil giant Anadarko Petroleum said it has signed a deal with one of China’s biggest importers to supply 1.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year from Mozambique for a period of 13 years.The contract, signed by Anadarko and China’s GNOOC Gas and Power Singapore Trading & Marketing, gives China’s biggest liquefied natural gas importer access to world-class gas resources from Mozambique LNG, Mitch Ingram, executive vice president of Anadarko’s International, Deepwater and Exploration division, said."Mozambique LNG is extremely pleased to have CNOOC onboard as one of our foundation customers," added Ingram. "This agreement adds to our growing list of customers in the Asia-Pacific region…

UK-based independent full-cycle oil and gas company confirmed that Indico-1 well in Colombia reached target depth of 10,604 feet and encountered the Lower Sands of the Une formation.The South America focused oil and gas producer, which owns 30% non-operated working interest in the Indico-1 well, said the Lower Sands package is the same formation which holds the 120 feet oil column discovered at nearby Mariposa, which lies some 6.5 kilometres to the North West of Indico-1.The Mariposa well has produced at a stable rate of approximately 3,200 barrels of oil per day in natural flow from 10 feet of perforations near the top of the 120 feet oil column for over a year…

Russia's energy major Rosneft and US ExxonMobil plan to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in a consortium with Indian and Japanese partners, spreading the estimated $15 billion cost, Reuters reported.The report said that  the LNG production project will come up in partnership with Japan’s SODECO and India’s ONGC Videsh.All four companies are partners in the Sakhalin-1 fields from which the requisite gas for the facility will be drawn, however Rosneft and Exxon had previously planned to build the facility without the other partners.As well as spreading the costs among more stakeholders, the broader involvement of the participants may mitigate sanctions risk…

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has signed agreements with Total of France, awarding them stakes in two of Abu Dhabi’s new offshore concessions. Under the terms of the agreements, Total has been awarded a 20% interest in the Umm Shaif and Nasr concession and a 5% interest in the Lower Zakum concession. Total is ADNOC’s largest and one of its longest international partners, active in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas sector since 1939. Today, the French super-major collaborates with ADNOC across the value chain, from offshore and onshore exploration, development and production, to processing, products and shipping. Total contributed…

Vietnam has extended an Indian oil concession in the South China Sea and begun drilling in another area it disputes with China in moves that could heighten tensions over who owns what in the vital maritime region. The moves come at a delicate time in Beijing's relations with Vietnam, which claims parts of the sea, and India, which recently sent warships to monitor the Malacca Straits, through which most of China's energy supplies and trade passes. Vietnam granted Indian oil firm ONGC Videsh a two-year extension to explore oil block 128 in a letter that arrived earlier this week, the state-run company's managing director Narendra K. Verma told Reuters.

India plans to sign energy deals with Russian oil major Rosneft next week to buy stakes in Siberian fields, two sources privy to the deal said, as New Delhi accelerates a push to secure overseas energy assets. India, the world's third biggest oil importer, has to ship in three quarters of its oil needs and a substantial fall in oil prices has added an extra incentive to seal purchases of assets that are now relatively cheap to limit its reliance on imports. Rosneft's Chief Executive Igor Sechin will visit Delhi on March 15-16 to stitch together the deals, the sources said. Rosneft, the world's biggest listed oil company by output, also…

India has come “under pressure” from Iran to complete the Chabahar Port project, with the lifting of Iranian trade sanctions, reports Hindu Business Line. Acting strategically to China’s repeated attempts to wean away India from Chabahar Port upgradation, India is taking steps to firm up its bilateral negotiations and alliance with Iran. According to highly placed sources, both sides have also arrived at a deadline to complete the talks on LNG terminal. A top official, involved in the talks, has reportedly said that India is under pressure to complete the Chabahar project. It has to be done by the first half of this year. The first phase of the $31-billion Chabahar Port project involves construction and operation of two berths there.

Rosneft and ONGC Videsh Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) yesterday for cooperation in exploration, appraisal and hydrocarbon producton on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation Igor Sechin, President and Chairman of the Management Board, Rosneft and Dinesh Kumar Sarraf, Chairman of the Board of Directors, ONGC Videsh Ltd and Chairman & Managing Director, ONGC signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, in the presence of Mr. Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation. The Memorandum paves the way for the companies’ cooperation in subsurface surveys, exploration and appraisal activities and hydrocarbons production in Russia’s offshore Arctic.

Brazil’s Libra pre-salt field, in Block SS-AUP1 in the Santos Basin, with estimated recoverable oil volumes of 8-12 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) and in place volumes of between 25-40 billion BOE, was the country’s first pre-salt field to be auctioned. The rules governing this historical auction have been shunned by important super-majors such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron and BP and also by major players such as the BG Group and Statoil. Many industry analysts were surprised that state-owned players from China, India and Malaysia dominated the list of companies that have agreed to the controversial terms imposed by the Brazilian government, through its National Petroleum Agency (ANP).

Indian company ONGC Videsh Ltd. is interested in exploring for hydrocarbon deposits in the Arctic in cooperation with leading Russian companies, reports 'Arctic info' (Russian). The announcement came in a joint statement adopted at the XIV Russian-Indian Summit, where talks were held by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The partner of the Indian company could be Rosneft, suggests Arctic info. During negotiations, the parties expressed…

Aker Solutions has been awarded contracts from Exxon Neftegas Limited, as operator on behalf of the Sakhalin-1 Consortium, for designing, constructing and delivering the Arkutun-Dagi gravity base structure (GBS) for the Sakhalin-1 project. The GBS construction will primarily utilize Russian workers, subcontractors, and materials. Once completed, the GBS will be located offshore Sakhalin Island on the east coast of Russia and will be a part of the drilling and production facilities for the Arkutun-Dagi development, a future phase of Sakhalin-1. The other participants in the Sakhalin-1 Consortium are SODECO, ONGC Videsh Ltd, and affiliates of Rosneft, Sakhalinmorneftegas-Shelf and RN-Astra.

ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) has won three offshore exploration blocks in Myanmar. The contracts will be signed between OVL and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, a Government of Myanmar enterprise. The company succeeded in acquiring 100 per cent participating interests in these three deepwater blocks AD-2, AD-3 and AD-9 in Myanmar offshore. Currently, the total oil and gas production of Myanmar is about 10,000 barrel oil per day (bpd) and 820 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD), respectively. The total oil and gas reserves are estimated at 50 million barrel and 10 trillion cubic feet respectively. Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise produces about 10,000 bpd and 120 MMSCFD gas from onshore oil and gas fields. [Source: The Hindu Businessline]

According to www.business-standard.com, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has signed a deal with Brazil’s Petrobras for exchange of stakes in oil blocks in each other’s countries. ONGC will reportedly offer Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) stake in its deepwater oil and gas block in the Krishna-Godavari basin, in which it discovered gas reserves estimated at 5-15 trillion cubic feet. In return, Petrobras – according to the report – will offer ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) stake in oil blocks in Brazil.

Following the signing of a product-sharing contract (PSC), Pearl Oil Ltd (Singapore), Serica Energy Group (Canada), and Lundin New Ventures B.V (Holland) will explore for oil and gas in the 4,100 sq.km Block 06-94. The three parties each hold a one-third interest. Pearl will be the contract operator and inject $49.3m in analyzing 2-D and 3-D seismic data and conducting exploratory drilling in the first three years. Block 06-94 is located immediately south of the Lan Tay and Lan Do gas fields, which are being developed by the UK’s BP, India’s ONGC Videsh, and PetroVietnam. In 2004 PetroVietnam and the UK’s PGS Geophysical inked a cooperation agreement that granted PGS exclusive rights to acquire a multi-client 3D (MC3D) seismic survey over the block to identify and map reservoir sands.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) and MRPL reported a 9-percent rise in profit for the year ended March 2006 despite slipping on crude oil production targets & price control with high global crude rates being a major stimuli in boosting the profits. A plan of investing in the refining business over the next 4-5 years was also announced by the ONGC group, which currently has a 13 million tonne per annum (mtpa) of refining capacity and plans to scale it up to 45.5 mtpa by 2009-10. ONGC’s foreign arm, OVL also posted a 22 per cent increase in its net profit. With 10 acquisitions, OVL currently has 21 properties in 12 countries and has become India’s biggest transnational company. (Source: Live Punjab)

Three more available blocks off Myanmar's southern Tanintharyi coast are under natural gas exploration with test wells being planned for drilling by Malaysia 's Petronas Company. A geophysical site survey at blocks M-16, M-17 and M-18, with areas ranging from about 13,000 square-kilometers (sq-km) to 14, 000 sq-km, has begun this week and the survey will last over a month until late March. Recent years have seen foreign oil companies increase engagement in oil and gas exploration in Myanmar. Thailand's PTTEP, for example, has covered a number of blocks including M-3, M-4, M- 7, M-9 and M-11 under contracts. Besides, a consortium comprising South Korea's Daewoo International…

Exxon Mobil subsidiary, Exxon Neftegas Limited, has commenced production from the multiphase Sakhalin-1 Project offshore Eastern Russia. The initial phase of the project will produce 50,000 barrels (6,300 metric tons) a day by year-end 2005 and 250,000 barrels (33,000 metric tons) a day of oil by year-end 2006 from the Chayvo field. Associated domestic gas sales will start at about 60 million cubic feet (1.7 million cubic meters) per day, and ultimately are expected to increase to about 250 million cubic feet (7.1 million cubic meters) per day by the end of the decade. The project start-up was on schedule and within about 10% of unit development cost expectations.