India is not likely to accept a proposal by Kazakhstan Government of giving ONGC Videsh ltd (OVl) a stake in its Abai oil block, as according to sources privy to the development, New Delhi has not found it lucrative enough. They added that the 25 per cent stake offered to OVl by Kazakh Government in Abai oil block, has not been found lucrative enough by the State-owned firm, sources told The Pioneer.
Though OVl officials chose not to comment on the matter when contacted, another source said that no official decision has been taken by the Petroleum Ministry on the offer. The sense within the Government however is, that the offer may not be accepted by New Delhi. The matter came up for discussion during the ongoing visit of Kazakhstan's Energy Minister Vladimir Shkolnik, who held inter-Governmental discussions with Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday. Kazakhstan had in 2013, blocked India's bid to buy a stake in that country's Kashagan oilfield. OVl in July that year, had offered to buy out US giant ConocoPhillips' 8.4 per cent stake in Kashagan oilfield for $5 billion, but the Central Asian nation not only refused it, but later gave it to China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), much to the consternation of India.
later to placate a peeved New Delhi, Astana had promised to offer another lucrative deal. The then Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily had strongly registered a protest on behalf of the Government when he had visited that country in September 2013. Subsequently Kazakhstan had offered OVl a 25 per cent stake in an alternative mid-sized Abai oil block in Caspian Sea in April last year.