ONGC makes foray into New Zealand; bags offshore block

ONGC Videsh has won an Exploration Block- 14TAR-R1 in New Zealand. The Indian government owned company had submitted bid for the block located in the Taranaki offshore basin in October 2014 under a bidding round launched by the New Zealand government.
 

Five offshore and three onshore release areas for competitive bidding were on offer. The exploration permit has been awarded to ONGC Videsh by Simon Bridges, Minister of Energy and Resources, New Zealand, at a ceremony held at Wellington yesterday. 

This marks ONGC Videsh’s entry into a new country, taking its presence in 17 countries in 36 projects. 
 

Commenting on the occasion, Narendra K  Verma, MD & CEO of ONGC Videsh said ONGC Videsh’s maiden entry into the hydrocarbon province of Taranaki offshore basin in New Zealand shall provide an opportunity to explore interesting hydrocarbon potential in the region and act as a foothold for greater participation in the far-east region. 

ONGC Videsh is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) and is India's largest international oil and gas E&P Company. It has presence in Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Libya, Mozambique, Myanmar, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Vietnam and New Zealand. 
 

It is producing 160 thousand barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas per day and has total oil and gas reserves of about 637 mmtoe as on March 2014. During the financial year ended March 31, 2014, ONGC Group produced 59.20 million tonne of oil and oil equivalent gas (mmtoe) (approx. 1.2 mmboe per day).