Reliance eyes more intl gas, oil assets

Reliance Industries is in talks to acquire oil and gas fields in West Africa, South America and the Middle East, a top company official said today.

"We are in dialogue in Nigeria, Chad, Angola, Ghana, Cameroon, Congo and Gabon. Things are progressing at a fast pace," the official, who wished not to be identified, said.

Reliance is also eyeing oil blocks in Venezuela, Mexico and Brazil, he added.

"Like everybody else, we, too, are looking at oil assets in the Middle East. The basic difference is that we are discussing with countries from whom we already import crude for processing at our 33 million tonne refinery at Jamnagar," the official said.

Reliance, which bagged an offshore block No. 18 in the Gulf of Oman in December 2004, is negotiating for oil blocks in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Besides the Oman block, the company has a 20% stake in exploration block 9 in Yemen where significant oil discovery has already been made.