ONGC bids for Venezuela oil block

Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has bid for Venezuela's Carabobo oil auction along with Spain's Repsol YPF SA and Petroliam Nasional Bhd of Malaysia.

Other members of the consortium pieced together by ONGC Videsh - the overseas arm of state-owned firm, include Indian Oil Corp and Oil India Ltd, sources in the know said.

The consortium is believed to have bid for Carabobo Norte I, one of the three blocks that were on offer, they said.

Bidding for Carobobo round closed yesterday that also saw a consortium made up of the US energy major Chevron, Venezuela's Suelopetrol and Japanese firms Mitsubishi, Jogmec and Inpex putting a bid.

Royal Dutch Shell too submitted an offer but UK's BP Plc did not make a bid. It wasn't immediately clear if Italy's Eni SpA - the other qualified company for the auction - had bid.

The Carabobo bidding is for three areas spread over seven promising blocks in the heavy and extra-heavy Orinoco oil belt in eastern Venezuela. Results will be known by February 10.

Each of the three blocks would require an investment of up to $30 billion and each winning bidder would form a joint venture with state oil producer Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PdVSA).

PdVSA would have a 60 per cent stake, while the winning companies would have a 40 per cent stake.

Sources said Repsol and Malaysia's Petronas will hold 25 per cent interest while OVL would hold 10.1 per cent. IOC and OIL would have 2.45 per cent a piece.