Business | Oil & Gas
ONGC eyes energy assets in Kazakhstan and Cuba
State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. said yesterday it was pursuing opportunities to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) and was seeking petroleum assets in Kazakhstan and Cuba to feed India's rising energy needs.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:00 September 20, 2006
New Delhi: State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. said yesterday it was pursuing opportunities to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) and was seeking petroleum assets in Kazakhstan and Cuba to feed India's rising energy needs.
ONGC, which accounts for 80 per cent of the oil and gas produced in India, is also keen to partner national oil companies abroad to explore oil and gas, Chairman R.S. Sharma told shareholders yesterday.
The company, which has aggressively bid for exploration rights abroad and in India, hoped to win domestic exploration blocks in the sixth round of India's New Exploration Licensing Policy, he said.
"We are hopeful that your company would win substantial number of blocks under this bidding round also," he said, adding LNG would be an attractive business for ONGC.
Energy-deficient India, which imports 70 per cent of the oil it consumes and can barely meet half the demand for gas, is encouraging the use of natural gas to meet the rising energy demand.
"Natural gas, the emerging fuel of the decade, and its derivatives have huge business potential," he said. "Keeping this in view, your company is aggressively pursuing LNG opportunities."
ONGC is in talks with parties from Qatar, Egypt and Australia to import at least 5 million tonnes of LNG a year, Sharma said, but he did not give details.
Petronet LNG imports 5 million tonnes a year of LNG from Qatar, helping naphtha-based power plants and fertiliser units switch to a cheaper and cleaner fuel, and forcing refiners to export surplus naphtha.
Sharma said ONGC was also planning to spend Rs9.50 billion ($206 million) to produce 0.78 million cubic metres per day of coal-bed methane gas by June 2007.
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