ONGC bids for Arctic oilfields in Russia

Nord Imperial, the Russian subsidiary of India’s state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), has entered the fray to bid for the Trebs and Titov deposits, the largest unallotted hydrocarbon fields remaining in Russia.

The fields, in the Arctic region, have an estimated recoverable reserve of 200 million tonnes of oil. ONGC has made its bid to acquire the licence from Rosnedra, the government agency concerned, news agencies said on Monday.

The fields will be sold through a government auction on December 2. The sale is expected to fetch Russia about about $2-3 billion, said reports.

ONGC and ONGC Videsh senior officials could not be contacted for their comments.

 

Five of Russia’s largest oil companies — OAO Lukoil, BP Plc’s Russian venture TNK-BP, OAO Gazprom’s oil unit, OAO Bashneft and OAO Surgutneftegaz — are also in the fray for the Trebs and Titov deposits.

Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil producer, has opted out of the race. However, its new president, Eduard Khudaynatov, said it would consider joining the project if a potential partner wins the bid.

ONGC already has a foothold in Russia, after its acquisition of Imperial Energy in 2009 and its 20 per cent participation in Russia’s Sakhalin-1 project. Sakhalin-1’s output is 155,000 barrels per day (bpd). This is expected to touch 200,000 bpd in the next calendar year.

In March, the Russian government said it would consider allowing ONGC to enter the running for development rights of the Trebs and Titov fields, as the country was looking to double trade with India to $20 billion by 2015.