ONGC Videsh through its wholly owned indirect subsidiary ONGC Videsh Vankorneft Pte. Ltd. (OVVL)) has signed definitive binding agreements with Tullow Namibia Limited (Tullow), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tullow Oil plc, on 20 November 2017 for acquiring 15% participating interest in Namibia Petroleum Exploration License 0030 for Block 2012A and related agreements (License) from Tullow’s existing participating interest of 25% in the License. Eco Oil and Gas Namibia (Pty) Ltd. with 32.5% Participating interest, Azimuth Namibia Limited with 32.5% participating interest and National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Pty) Ltd with 10% participating interest are other partners in the License. The License is currently under First Renewal Exploration Period and the joint venture partners are carrying out data evaluation for identifying a drill prospect.
Eco is currently the operator of the License and Tullow shall acquire another 15% participating Interest and assume the role of Operator from Eco under the License, in case Tullow elects to proceed into the Second Renewal Exploration Period; The acquisition is subject to satisfaction of customary conditions precedents including Namibian regulatory and joint venture partners approvals as well as grant of a twelve (12) month extension to the First Renewal Exploration Period by the Namibian regulatory authority.
Coming soon after the completion of the first acquisition of 30% participating interest in PEL-0037 from Tullow on 3 October 2017, the completion of the present transaction would strengthen ONGC Videsh partnership with Tullow and its other partners including NAMCOR, the national oil company of Namibia and would mark consolidation of ONGC Videsh interest in Namibian offshore. The acquisition is consistent with ONGC Videsh’s strategic objective of adding high quality exploration and production assets to its existing E&P portfolio.
About ONGC Videsh
ONGC Videsh is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), the National Oil Company of India, and is India's largest international oil and gas E&P Company. At present, ONGC Videsh has 39 projects in 18 countries including Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Mozambique, Myanmar, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, Venezuela, Vietnam, New Zealand and Namibia. ONGC Videsh is currently producing about 285,000 barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas per day and has total oil and gas reserves (2P) of about 704 MMTOE as on 1 April, 2017. For more information visit: www.ongcvidesh.com
About ONGC
ONGC's market capitalization as on 16 November 2017 was INR 2,310 billion (US$ 35.51 billion). During the financial year ended 31 March, 2017, ONGC Group had produced 61.60 MMT of oil and oil equivalent gas (MMTOE) (approx. 1.23 MMboe per day); the Consolidated Gross Turnover was INR 1,421 billion (US$ 21 billion) during FY’17 and total consolidated oil and gas reserves were 1,818 MMTOE as on 31 March 2017. For more information visit: www.ongcindia.com
