ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) and Russia’s Rosneft signed an agreement of confirmation (AoC) of successful completion of the first stage pre-completion actions in relation to the creation of a joint venture in JSC “Vankorneft”. The document was signed in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Narendra Modi by ONGC Videsh Ltd Managing Director Narendra K Verma and Rosneft Chairman Igor Sechin on Thursday.
The document was signed in continuation of the agreement of sale and purchase of a 15 per cent share in Vankorneft and the shareholders’ agreement in regard of the enterprise management (the documents were signed in September, 2015). The parties intend to complete the transaction upon obtaining necessary regulatory and other approvals. Moreover, Rosneft and ONGC Videsh signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in geologic surveys, exploration and production of hydrocarbons onshore and on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation.
The papers, signed in continuation of the MoU for cooperation in exploration, appraisal and hydrocarbon production on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation (signed within SPIEF-2014), confirm the intention of India and Russia to continue cooperation in these areas and expand the sphere of their potential partnership to include Russian onshore hydrocarbon development projects. Particularly, the companies will analyse the possibility of expanding their partnership aimed at the development of perspective Rosneft projects in East Siberia.
Commenting on the historic pact, Dinesh K Sarraf, Chairman and Managing Director of OVL’s parent company Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC), India’s national oil company. said, “We are happy with the ongoing cooperation between ONGC Videsh Ltd and Rosneft and successful completion of the first stage pre-completion actions in relation to the creation of a joint venture in JSC “Vankorneft”. This takes the cooperation between the two companies to a whole new level and lay a strong foundations for enlarging energy cooperation between the two nations”.
ONGC Videsh is India’s largest oil and gas exploration and production company outside the country, owns participating interests in 36 oil and gas assets in 17 countries and contributes to 14.8 per cent of oil and 12.5 per cent of oil and natural gas production of India respectively. ONGC Videsh Ltd’s partnership with Rosneft started in 2001 when the former acquired a 20 per cent stake in the Sakhalin-I oil and gas project of Russia.
ONGC is India’s largest government-run corporation and produces about 70 per cent of our crude oil and natural gas. The corporation is the biggest public sector commercial organisation in India with a current market capitalisation of about $31 billion. The Union Government holds a 68.94 per cent stake in ONGC.
Vankorneft, a Rosneft subsidiary, was established in 2004 for development of the Vankor oil and gas condensate field, the largest of the fields discovered and put into operation in Russia in the last 25 years. The field is situated in the Turukhansky district of Krasnoyarsk Territory, 142 km from the city of Igarka. The initial recoverable reserves of the Vankor field by January 1, 2015, are estimated at 476 million tonnes of oil and condensate and 173 billion cubic meters of gas. The acreage of the field is 447 square km.