JSPL carrying out due diligence for stakes in Kazakh oil block

Jindal Steel and Power today said it is carrying out due diligence for acquiring stakes in a producing oil block in Kazakhstan besides mulling prospects to set up a refinery in Georgia.

"We have a proposal from a producing oil block in Kazakhstan. We are carrying out the technical due diligence. Once that is done, we will decide on stake buying," JSPL Group Chief Financial Officer Sushil Maroo told PTI.

Maroo said that the due diligence would take between one and two months to complete. Based on the outcome, a final decision on acquiring stakes would be taken.

JSPL would weigh various aspects including quantity of the crude production of the block and the amount of investment required, among others, before taking the final call.

Maroo, however, did not divulge the percentage of stakes that JSPL would be interested in picking up in the Kazakhstan block.

Meanwhile, JSPL already has five oil and gas blocks in Georgia and one in Bolivia outside India.

In Georgia, the company is examining the possibility of setting up a small-sized refinery to cater to the domestic demand there.

"We are examining the possibilities of a micro refinery in Georgia. This will save on transportation on crude," Maroo said declining to divulge details of the likely capacity and investments for the proposed refinery.

During the seventh round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP), JSPL had bagged one gas block in Rajasthan in India. It had also participated in the eighth round of NELP for some Coal Bed Methane (CBM) blocks, but could not get any

Maroo said the company plans to bid for blocks in NELP-IX as and when bids would be called for.