OVL buys 15% stake in Namibia offshore block from Tullow Oil

ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, today said it has acquired 15 per cent stake in an oil block in Namibia.

It did not disclose the deal amount.

The 15 per cent participating interest in Namibia Petroleum Exploration License (PEL) 30, covering Block 2012A from Tullow Oil of UK, is OVL's second acquisition in the African nation in as many months.

In a statement, OVL said its indirect subsidiary ONGC Videsh Vankorneft Pte Ltd (OVVL) has signed binding agreements with Tullow Namibia Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tullow Oil plc, for the stake buy.

Tullow held 25 per cent in the block.

Eco Oil and Gas Namibia (Pty) Ltd with 32.5 per cent stake, Azimuth Namibia Ltd (32.5 per cent) and National Petroleum Corp of Namibia (Pty) Ltd (10 per cent) are other partners in the License.

"The License is currently under First Renewal Exploration Period and the joint venture partners are carrying out data evaluation for identifying a drill prospect," the statement said.

Last month, OVL had acquired 30 per cent in PEL-37, covering three offshore blocks, from Tullow.

Tullow Oil held 65 per cent interest in PEL-37 while Pancontinental Namibia (Pty) Ltd held 30 per cent and the remaining 5 per cent is with Paragon Oil and Gas.

OVL said Eco is the operator of PEL-30 and Tullow shall acquire another 15 per cent participating interest from Eco to assume operatorship.

The acquisition, it said, is subject to regulatory and joint venture partners approval, as well as a grant of a 12-month extension to the First Renewal Exploration Period, by the Namibian regulatory authority.

OVL said the fresh acquisition would strengthen its partnership with Tullow and its other partners and would mark the consolidation of interest in Namibian offshore.

"The acquisition is consistent with OVL's strategic objective of adding high-quality exploration and production assets to its existing exploration and production portfolio," the statement added.