ONGC Videsh signs LOI with PetroVietnam for joint exploration

ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), theoverseas exploration arm of ONGC Ltd, said it has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with PetroVietnam, Vietnam's state-owned oil producer on Monday for exploration of oil and gas acreages in the offshore areas of that nation.

The agreement was signed by the two companies in the presence of Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, who is on a visit to that nation, and petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan. "The LOI provides for expansion of exploration activities by OVL by considering participation in 2-3 additional blocks subject to technical and commercial viability and approvals," OVL said in a release.

PetroVietnam, in turn, could participate in a few of the exploration blocks of ONGC Videsh on mutually agreeable terms subject to due-diligence.

ONGC Videsh forayed into Vietnam in 1988 after bagging exploration license for a Block there. The company later bagged two exploration blocks in 2006. While one of them was relinquished after completion of the work program, the other block is under exploration. The two firms have since been engaged in further discussions for cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector of Vietnam.

ONGC Videsh is the wholly owned subsidiary of ONGC and is India's largest international oil and gas exploration and production company. At present, ONGC Videsh has participation in 35 projects in 16 countries including Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Libya,Mozambique, Myanmar, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Venezuela. The firm is currently producing around 160,000 barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas per day and has total oil and gas reserves of 637 million tonne of oil equivalent (mtoe).