IOC to sell 50,000 tonnes of diesel to Bangladesh

New Delhi, Mar 8 (UNI) State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) today said it plans to sell 50,000 tonnes of diesel to Bangladesh which mainly depends on this fuel for its energy source.

IOC Chairman and Managing Director Sarthak Behuria said the diesel is part of the total contract to export 200,000 tonnes of which 50,000 tonnes were still to be delivered.

The company plans to source the oil from IOC's Haldia refinery near the Bangladesh border. IOC's Panipat refinery's capacity is expected to be doubled, Mr Behuria said on the sidelines of an energy conference here.

India is keen to boost exports to neighbouring Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

IOC has plans to go in for exploration and refining in Egypt, Mr Behuria said.

Yesterday, Mr Behuria said it was in talks to acquire Canada's Niko Resources and France's Maurel&Prom.

Mr Behuria said IOC had submitted a joint bid for the French company.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 14th International Aviation Conference at Hyderabad recently, he said IOC was building up a strategy for venturing into new areas along the hydrocarbon value chain which will drive its growth. ''We expect that by the year 2012, nearly a quarter of our revenues would be got from new businesses,'' Mr Behuria pointed out.

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