New Delhi, Jan. 15: The fortunes of ONGC-Videsh (OVL) and Gail (India) Ltd rose today with a major gas find in the Myanmar offshore area.
A senior ONGC official told The Telegraph that a “giant gas field” had been struck in Myanmar by the consortium of Korean and Indian companies that are exploring the offshore waters of the neighbouring country.
The gas find has been estimated at a whopping 4 to 6 trillion cubic feet, which is the equivalent of 700 to 1,000 million barrels of oil. The gas field is estimated to have a capacity of producing 500 million cubic feet of gas per day.
The well that was spudded in the offshore field is reported to have struck a thick layer of gas that yielded 32 million cubic feet of gas per day.
The adjoining field in the region is already producing a huge amount of gas and the prospects for the A-1 field were considered very bright when OVL had decided to join the consortium headed by South Korean company Daewoo, which holds a 60 per cent stake in the field.
Indian companies, OVL and Gail have a 20 per cent and 10 per cent share respectively in the gas field. Kogas, another Korean company, owns the remaining 10 per cent stake.
Although striking of oil is considered a better economic proposition as it is easier and less costly to evacuate, natural gas is finding increasing use as a substitute in energy-hungry countries like India.
The gas can either be transported through long distance pipelines or else through special cryogenic ships in a liquefied form. This liquid gas is again gassified for use on arrival at the final destination.
The Myanmar find comes as a welcome development for India as it has been trying to get gas from Bangladesh as well and the blueprint for laying an inter-country pipeline has already been drawn up. However, the proposal has been stuck as Bangladesh does not want to sell its gas to India for political reasons.
Meanwhile, in another development, ONGC Videsh has decided to give a 10 per cent stake to Oil India Ltd in the oil exploration block in Syria so that its sister company can grow globally.
A senior ONGC official said the deal with Syria for Block 24 was signed today. While ONGC owns a 60 per cent stake in the block, US company IPR holds 40 per cent.
Acquires Angola field
The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) today cleared OVL’s proposal to acquire Anglo-Dutch giant, Shell’s 50 per cent stake in an oil field in Angola for $700-1,100 million, adds PTI. “The CCEA approved OVL buying out Shell Development Angola’s (a subsidiary of Royal Dutch/Shell) stake in the BP-operated 200,000-barrels-per-day Greater Plutonio project (also known as block 18) off Angola,” sources said.
