OVL, Nigerian govt to sign agreement on oil blocks by Jan-end

New Delhi, Jan 3 (UNI) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's overseas arm, ONGC Videsh Ltd, will sign a product sharing agreement with the Nigerian government by the end of this month for the two oil blocks awarded to it, OVL Chairman R S Butola said today.

''Talks are on with Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc over selling a 10-15 percent stake in these blocks,'' Mr Butola said here.

Each block will incur an investment of 75 million dollars, he added.

''We would prefer to sell stake to Total and Shell as they are already in exploration activities in Nigeria,'' Mr Butola said.

Any tie-up with Total would be ONGC's first ever tie up with the French giant for a joint exploration.

ONGC and Shell are also jointly exploring block BC-10 in Brazil's prolific Campos Basin.

UNI