ONGC Videsh NEWS

India’s energy companies are unable to reap dividends worth as much as $400 million from their assets in Russia, a senior oil ministry official said Saturday.

Iran’s Petropars Ltd. will be awarded a $1.78 billion contract by the National Iranian Oil Co. to develop the giant Farzad-B gas field that was previously intended to be tapped by a group of Indian companies. Petropars will produce 28 million cubic meters of gas a day from the offshore deposit within five years, according to the agreement, the Iranian oil ministry’s official Shana news service reported, with the contract to be signed on Monday. An Indian consortium led by ONGC Videsh Ltd. was engaged in talks with Iran to develop the field but disagreements over investment volume and gas prices delayed progress and negotiations stalled completely after the U.S. reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018.

ONGC’s overseas division, ONGC Videsh Ltd has made major oil discoveries in Brazil and Colombia. In a statement released on Wednesday, the E&P major informed about encountering the oil bearing sands of 8 meters at a depth of 2852m in Block CPO-5. ONGC Videsh operates the block where PDSA is the partner. In Brazil, ONGC Videsh drilled with its consortium partner, Petrobras in block BM-SEAL-4, encountering oil and gas bearing sands.

India's Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) planned to invest $2.2-2.4 billion in the Rovuma Offshore Area-1 gas field in Mozambique. This investment plan has got approval after being scrutinised by the group of ministers. But it is still waiting to get a nod from Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). Apart from BPCL, ONGC Videsh and Oil India also have stakes in this field.

ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) has received payment from PDVSA towards their $449 million of outstanding dues. The payment of USD 32 million came through Reliance Industries which bought Venezuelan crude oil last month. $449 million of accrued dividends from the San Cristobal field in Venezuela was due to OVL for four years. OVL owns 40% stakes in the field.

India’s ONGC Videsh and Petronet LNG are jointly taking a move to buy stakes in Driftwood project in Louisiana proposed by Tellurian Inc's. The MD of Petronet said “We have moved slightly forward... we are evaluating it seriously and we are in serious discussion with them,” The two companies are jointly initiating this talk in order to grow India's pipeline network and increase the use of cleaner fuel.

In order to pay its overdue dividends to ONGC Videsh Ltd, Venezuelan state-owned PDVSA has shipped a $35 million crude cargo. This is the partial payment to the firm. This payment is in accordance with the deal signed by PDVSA and ONGC Videsh in 2016. If sources were to be believed, PDVSA did not transfer any money in over a year because of the economic breakdown in Venezuela.

The consortium operating the 250,000 bpd Sakhalin-1 project in Russia has agreed to pay Russian oil major, Rosneft $230 million to settle the production dispute out-of-court. Rosneft, in June, had dragged the consortium of ExxonMobil, ONGC Videsh Ltd, and SODECO to court. Rosneft was seeking $1.4 billion in damages, alleging "unjust enrichment and interest gained by using other people's money". OVL will pay $46 million as part of settlement money.

The Indian tax department struck ONGCs international arm, ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) with a ₹7666.10 crore (approximately USD 1.05 billion) service tax demand. The tax demand was slapped over the payment the firm made to its overseas subsidiaries for the duration of 2006 to 2017. The tax department issued many demand-cum-show cause notices to OVL on the matter. Sources reported that OVL is challenging the demand.

A senior official of ONGC Videsh Ltd has said that the firm is planning to withdraw from the Satpayev block in Kazakhstan. OVL acquired 25% stakes in the block in 2011, marking its entry in Kazakhstan’s oil and gas industry. Satpayev’s proximity to major discoveries in the North Caspian Sea tempted OVL to buy shares in the block. The firm’s $300 million exploration campaign, however, didn’t meet with much success.

Venezuela has not yet paid its past dues of USD 449 million, strategizing accordingly, ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) has overruled Latin American nation’s proposal for additional stake in an oilfield. OVL already holds 40% stakes in San Cristobal field and was offered 9% more by PDVSA last year. On November 4, 2016, two agreements were signed between OVL and PDVSA for the revival of the San Cristobal.

India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd informed that Sudan is making its move towards mitigating default on payment of dues and thus, has asked OVL to pull out its arbitrary proceedings against the nation. OVL earlier this year in London court filed an arbitration claim against Sudan’s government. This is in relation with the pending dues from a 2011 breakaway of South Sudan from a project.

ONGC’s overseas arm, ONGC Videsh Limited, yesterday received a shipment carrying 6, 90,000 barrels of crude from the Abu Dhabi's Lower Zakum oilfield. This is the first ever equity oil cargo in the line of the share which OVL will receive from its recently bought stake in Abu Dhabi. OVL, in association with IOCL and BPRL, entered into an agreement this year, to acquire 10% stake in Lower Zakum Concession.

Petroleos De Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) has stopped payments to ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the foreign arm of ONGC. OVL is yet to receive an amount of $450m, as dividend from San Cristobal field. Three instalments totalling $88m were received but the subsequent payments stopped. The company is now requesting PDVSA to allot oil in lieu of the dues.

India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd. has filed an arbitration claim against the Sudanese government in a London court, to recover long pending dues from a project that was hit by the disintegration of South Sudan in 2011. Sudan’s ambassador to India says that the country is facing problems in making the payments due to the sanctions imposed on Sudan.

Petronet wants to collaborate with the overseas wing of India’s biggest explorer, ONGC Videsh Ltd., to pick up a stake in an upcoming exploration and liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Qatar, as revealed by a top company official. It will be a maiden venture of Petronet in LNG E&P business and overseas LNG terminals.

French’s Total has announced the closing of Maersk Oil acquisition and has ramped up to about 160,000 boed in 2018. With this, it has sustained its existing leading position in the U.K. and has managed to enter Denmark subsequently making it the second-largest operator in the North Sea. Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of Total has expressed it as a “success on many levels.”

Government of Mozambique has approved ONGC Videsh (16% stake) and Oil India (4% stake) for the development work of Golfinho-Atum natural gas field. The plan consists of two-train onshore liquefaction plant with total processing capacity of 12.88 million metric tonnes per annum.