ONGC signs co-op' pact with Eni for oil blocks in Congo Brazzaville

Mumbai, Feb 14 (UNI) State owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) today signed two parallel agreements with Italian company Eni for the swap of participating interests in exploration blocks located in India and Congo Brazzaville.

The first agreement envisages Eni acquiring a 34 per cent participating interest in the deepwater block MN-DWN-2002/1, located in the Indian eastern offshore, with acreage of around 10,000 sq km and water depth going in excess of 2,000 meters, said an ONGC press release here. This block lies in an area with high exploration potential.

ONGC had recently confirmed the discovery of commercial reserves of gas in Mahanadi, off the coast of Orissa. This agreement would provide the Company with a collaborative partnership to meet technological challenges in the area.

Eni will apply, in this new partnership, the exploration experience and leading edge technology it has developed from its other international deepwater operations.

The agreement also foresees the potential for a Joint Operationship between Eni and ONGC in the development phase. With this agreement, Eni reinforces its presence in India and its collaboration with ONGC, the national oil and gas Company of the country.

Through the second agreement, ONGC Videsh, a wholly owned subsidiary of ONGC, has acquired from Eni a 20 per cent participating interest in the MTPN exploration block, operated by Eni, located in the deepwater offshore of Congo Brazzaville, and area where Eni has a long lasting presence. The block is situated in known petroliferous Lower Congo Basin where substantial discoveries have already been made. Eni has already discovered oil and gas in this block. Eni at present is operating the block with Exxon Mobil as the other partner.

The agreements were signed by Mr Roberto Poli, Chairman Eni and Mr R S Butola, Managing Director, ONGC Videsh Ltd for Congo Brazzaville and Mr D K Pande, Director (Exploration), ONGC for Mahanadi deep water block in the presence of Mr R S Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director, ONGC.

UNI