ONGC Videsh ltd, the overseas investment arm of India’s biggest energy explorer, has bid for an oil and gas block in New Zealand.
New Zealand offered eight onshore and offshore blocks covering more than 190,000 square kilometres in its latest licensing round, bids for which closed in end-September.
In an investor presentation, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) said OVl “has submitted bid for New Zealand exploration block.”It, however, did not identify the block it has bid for.
The blocks on offer include five onshore areas and three offshore exploration areas.This is OVl’s maiden bid for an exploration acreage in New Zealand. OVl has 35 projects in 16 countries like Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Mozambique, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Russia.
In the presentation, ONGC said OVl produced 8.36 million tonnes of oil and oil equivalent gas in 2013-14 fiscal, up from 7.26 million tonnes oil equivalent in the previous year. listing out recent acquisition, ONGC said its overseas arm acquired 2.7 per cent stake in a Azerbaijan oilfield that produces about 700,000 barrels of oil per day.
Also, it picked up 16 per cent interest in a giant gas discovery area in Mozambique. The offshore gas discovery has recoverable reserves of 50-70 trillion cubic feet, out of whichOVl’s share would be 8-11 Tcf.