Total, Shell seek stakes in OMEL's Nigeria blocks

Thursday, 04 January 2007, 18:30 IST
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New Delhi: India's ONGC Mittal Energy Ltd (OMEL) may offer equity stakes to Royal Dutch Shell and France's Total in the two offshore blocks it has in Nigeria once a product sharing contract (PSC) is signed, probably later this month, a top official said on Wednesday. "Shell, Total and Exxon have expressed interest in taking equity stakes in the two offshore deepwater blocks we have got in Nigeria. We will discuss their offer after the production sharing contract has been signed, possibly later this month," ONGC Videsh managing director R.S. Butola told media here. OMEL, a joint venture of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and the London-based L.N. Mittal Group, is yet to finalise how much equity stakes it would like to offer the global energy majors in the two prospective oil blocks OPL 212 and 209. OPL 209 is close to Shell's Bongo fields that have reserves of 800 million barrels. ONGC is inclined to favor Shell's request for the equity stake as it had relinquished its first right in the Campos basin to enable a stake for ONGC Videsh, the overseas investment arm of ONGC. Butola, however, said the final decision would be based on the terms offered by the firms for the stakes in the exploration blocks, which are expected to yield good oil resources as they adjoin oil-rich fields. OMEL is meanwhile committed to invest $75 million in the preliminary exploration work program for each block.
Source: IANS