OVL to plough back part of Sakhalin revenues

Mangalore, Dec 2: State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's overseas arm ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) will plough back a part of its revenues earned from Sakhalin I, its MD R S Butola said today.

''We plan to put in a part of our reveunues earned from Sakhalin I back into the project,'' said Mr Butola at a function here to mark the arrival of the first shipment of crude for Shakalin I.

He said the company's investment in the Sakhalin field now stands at 1.5 billion dollars down from 2.7 billion dollars. ''We had given Russian oil company Roseneft a loan of 1.2 billion dollars, which they refunded in August this year,'' he said.

The company has plans to make more investments in the Russian oil fields as and when the opportunity arises, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora said after receiving the first consignment of seven lakh barrels of crude from Sakhalin I at the Mangalore port.

India plans to partner for more oil fields in Sakhalin III along with Russian companies.

Sakhalin I has reserves of 2.3 billion barrels of oil and 17 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The company envisages to bring one million barrels of oil from Sakhalin I, Mr Butola said.

''Russia has large potential and the large area of Siberia has to be explored for massive oil reserves,'' he added.

The company is expecting a production of 2,50,000 barrels per day from Sakhalin I fields by the mid-February.

''OVL currently operating in 16 countries would expand further to 20 more countries in the near future,'' said Petroleum Secretary M S Srinivasan.

The equity holders in the Sakhalin I project include Exxon-Mobil, ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) and affiliates of Rosneft, Russian state-owned oil company. OVL has a 20 per cent equity in the project.

The company will bring its second Sokol crude cargo of 7,00,000 barrels from Sakhalin by December end, Mr Butola added.

UNI