Abu Dhabi/New Delhi: ONGC Videsh Ltd and its partners have acquired a 10 per cent stake in a large offshore oilfield in Abu Dhabi for $600 million, the first time any Indian company has set foot in the oil-rich UAE.

The contract for the oilfield in Lower Zakum Concession was signed in Abu Dhabi on Saturday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

While addressing the Indian community in Dubai on Sunday, Modi referred to the major deal and said it was the "beginning of a bright dimension in our partnership".

OVL, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), along with Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and a unit of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) paid a signing amount of $600 million for a 10 per cent stake in Abu Dhabi National Oil Co's (ADNOC) 40-year Lower Zakum Concession, Offshore Abu Dhabi.

"The current production of this field is about 400,000 barrels of oil per day (20 million tonnes per annum) and the Indian consortium's annual share shall be about 2 million tonnes," OVL said in a press statement.

The field is to achieve plateau target of 450,000 barrels of oil per day by 2025.

The concession has a term of 40 years with an effective date of March 9, 2018. PTI