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ONGC snubs BG bid for oilfields
The Oil & Natural Gas Corp ask UK BG Group to give up claims to operator status in oil and gas fields, part of the booty it acquired from Enron`s fallen empire, an ONGC spokesman said in New Delhi.
The Oil & Natural Gas Corp ask UK BG Group to give up claims to operator status in oil and gas fields, part of the booty it acquired from Enron`s fallen empire, an ONGC spokesman said in New Delhi.
BG bought Enron`s 30 per cent stake in the Tapti gas field and the Panna/Mukta oil and gas fields. State-run ONGC has a 30 per cent stake in them and biggest petrochemicals group, Reliance Industries holds the remaining 30 per cent.
"Operating the fields will be the first item on the agenda when the three partners meet," an ONGC spokesman said, but did not say when the meeting was scheduled.
Last week, the BG Group completed the purchase of the entire share capital of Enron Oil & Gas India, an Indian subsidiary of the bankrupt energy trader, Enron. The BG Group said last week EOGIL, to be renamed BG Exploration & Production, will continue to operate these assets, but officials said this was only a temporary arrangement.
Petroleum ministry officials said it was up to the three partners to decide who operates the field. If they cannot, the government would intervene, they added.
BG had earlier agreed to pay $388 million for a stake in the field but had put a condition that it should be allowed to operate the field. It later dropped the condition and settled for a price of $340 million. The Panna-Mukta fields have recoverable reserves of 184 million barrels of oil and oil equivalent in gas, and the Tapti gas fields had reserves of 96.3 million cubic metres of gas.
ONGC discovered the fields but the government invited foreign and local firms to invest and develop them in the early years of India`s economic reforms which began a decade ago.
Enron is also seeking to sell the 85 per cent foreign equity stake of its $2.9-billion Indian power plant which has lain idle since June 2001 following a payment dispute between the US firm and the Maharashtra State Electricity Board.
Bureau Report
"Operating the fields will be the first item on the agenda when the three partners meet," an ONGC spokesman said, but did not say when the meeting was scheduled.
Last week, the BG Group completed the purchase of the entire share capital of Enron Oil & Gas India, an Indian subsidiary of the bankrupt energy trader, Enron. The BG Group said last week EOGIL, to be renamed BG Exploration & Production, will continue to operate these assets, but officials said this was only a temporary arrangement.
Petroleum ministry officials said it was up to the three partners to decide who operates the field. If they cannot, the government would intervene, they added.
BG had earlier agreed to pay $388 million for a stake in the field but had put a condition that it should be allowed to operate the field. It later dropped the condition and settled for a price of $340 million. The Panna-Mukta fields have recoverable reserves of 184 million barrels of oil and oil equivalent in gas, and the Tapti gas fields had reserves of 96.3 million cubic metres of gas.
ONGC discovered the fields but the government invited foreign and local firms to invest and develop them in the early years of India`s economic reforms which began a decade ago.
Enron is also seeking to sell the 85 per cent foreign equity stake of its $2.9-billion Indian power plant which has lain idle since June 2001 following a payment dispute between the US firm and the Maharashtra State Electricity Board.
Bureau Report