OVL-OIL pay Videocon $2.5 bn for Mozambique gas field stake
8 Jan 2014 1:16 AM GMT
ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas arm of ONGC and Oil India had jointly bought Videocon Group's 10 per cent interest in the Rovuma Area-1 for $2.475 billion. Additionally, OVL bought US energy major Anadarko Petroleum's 10 per cent stake in the same block for $2.64 billion.
'The payments to Videocon were made today (Tuesday),' said a source with direct knowledge of the development, adding that 'payments to Anadarko will be made before February-end.'Â OVL raised about $1.5 billion in one-year bridge loans from foreign lenders to fund its part of the payment to Videocon while OIL raised $900 million in debt for its share.
OVL will raise another $2.6 billion to fund the Anadarko payments. Videocon, he said, was originally seeking $2.8 billion for the 10 per cent stake in the block that is estimated to hold a minimum of 35 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas reserves.
'Tough negotiations followed and we were able to bring down the price to $2.47 billion,' he said. A unit of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd already has a 10 per cent stake in the block, which is estimated to hold a maximum of 65 tcf gas reserves, equivalent to 13 times the size of the currently producing fields in the KG-D6 block of Reliance Industries. The resource accretion from this acquisition for 20 per cent interest would be around 10 tcf, which is about one-fifth of India's present proven gas reserves.
'This acquisition will help us meet our energy needs as gas in the block will be turned into LNG for sale into markets like India,' the source said. Area 1 covers approximately 2.6 million acres in the deep-water Rovuma Basin and the acquisition would mark the entry of OVL and OIL into the largest gas discovery in offshore East Africa.
CAG reports on K-G basin are under PAC review, Oil Ministry tells HC
Mumbai: The Oil Ministry on Tuesday informed the Bombay High Court that the CAG reports pertaining to the scrutiny of records of operators exploring the Krishna Godavari basin, was under consideration with the Public Accounts Committee.
‘The CAG reports for the years 2006-07 and 2007-08 have not been disposed of as they are under the active consideration of the PAC. Once the PAC submits its recommendations, action would be taken on that basis by the government,’ the Union Ministry said in an affidavit on Tuesday. The affidavit was filed in reply to a contempt petition filed against the ministry for allegedly failing to comply with an order passed by the high court in January 2012 directing it to dispose of the CAG reports by December 2012. According to the contempt petition filed by advocate Shrikant Padhi in February 2013, the ministry had failed to comply with this order and had not disposed of the CAG reports. ‘The CAG reports were referred to the PAC by the Parliament. The PAC has raised several queries from time to time and has recorded oral evidences of the ministry officials and of operator Reliance Industries Ltd. The CAG reports are under consideration of the PAC. Action would be taken once the PAC submits its recommendations,’ the affidavit filed by Vivek Rae, secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said. In January 2012, the high court had asked the ministry to consider and dispose of the CAG reports while hearing a PIL filed by Padhi alleging that Reliance Industries did not follow the formula of profit sharing and was siphoning the profit without sharing it with the government.
'The payments to Videocon were made today (Tuesday),' said a source with direct knowledge of the development, adding that 'payments to Anadarko will be made before February-end.'Â OVL raised about $1.5 billion in one-year bridge loans from foreign lenders to fund its part of the payment to Videocon while OIL raised $900 million in debt for its share.
OVL will raise another $2.6 billion to fund the Anadarko payments. Videocon, he said, was originally seeking $2.8 billion for the 10 per cent stake in the block that is estimated to hold a minimum of 35 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas reserves.
'Tough negotiations followed and we were able to bring down the price to $2.47 billion,' he said. A unit of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd already has a 10 per cent stake in the block, which is estimated to hold a maximum of 65 tcf gas reserves, equivalent to 13 times the size of the currently producing fields in the KG-D6 block of Reliance Industries. The resource accretion from this acquisition for 20 per cent interest would be around 10 tcf, which is about one-fifth of India's present proven gas reserves.
'This acquisition will help us meet our energy needs as gas in the block will be turned into LNG for sale into markets like India,' the source said. Area 1 covers approximately 2.6 million acres in the deep-water Rovuma Basin and the acquisition would mark the entry of OVL and OIL into the largest gas discovery in offshore East Africa.
CAG reports on K-G basin are under PAC review, Oil Ministry tells HC
Mumbai: The Oil Ministry on Tuesday informed the Bombay High Court that the CAG reports pertaining to the scrutiny of records of operators exploring the Krishna Godavari basin, was under consideration with the Public Accounts Committee.
‘The CAG reports for the years 2006-07 and 2007-08 have not been disposed of as they are under the active consideration of the PAC. Once the PAC submits its recommendations, action would be taken on that basis by the government,’ the Union Ministry said in an affidavit on Tuesday. The affidavit was filed in reply to a contempt petition filed against the ministry for allegedly failing to comply with an order passed by the high court in January 2012 directing it to dispose of the CAG reports by December 2012. According to the contempt petition filed by advocate Shrikant Padhi in February 2013, the ministry had failed to comply with this order and had not disposed of the CAG reports. ‘The CAG reports were referred to the PAC by the Parliament. The PAC has raised several queries from time to time and has recorded oral evidences of the ministry officials and of operator Reliance Industries Ltd. The CAG reports are under consideration of the PAC. Action would be taken once the PAC submits its recommendations,’ the affidavit filed by Vivek Rae, secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said. In January 2012, the high court had asked the ministry to consider and dispose of the CAG reports while hearing a PIL filed by Padhi alleging that Reliance Industries did not follow the formula of profit sharing and was siphoning the profit without sharing it with the government.
Next Story
