OIL to target further expansion in Golden Jubilee year: CMD

Guwahati, Feb 06: Having emerged as the largest company in Assam and second largest in the country, Oil India Limited (OIL) is eyeing to expand manifold as the oil giant steps into its golden jubilee year this month.

Its revenue collection had also witnessed a quantum jump and the company contributed over Rs 1,200 crore to the state exchequer last fiscal, OIL CMD M R Pasrija said at a press conference here last night.

He said, ''OIL has spread its wings all over the country, from Mahanadi and Godavari basin of the East coast to Kutch, Saurashtra and Mumbai on the West coast. It has also made its debut as a global player, with presence in Libya, Gabon, Nigeria, Yemen, Sudan, Iran and East Timor.'' Incorporated on February 18, 1959, OIL will mark its golden jubilee year with focus on growth, expansion as well as meeting its corporate social responsibility (CSR) with greater level of pursuance, the CMD added.

The company, only non-listed among the top six in India, will also open its Initial Public Offering (IPO) for 2,64,49,982 equity shares of Rs 10 each in the months to come, Mr Pasrija said.

The issue will constitute 11 per cent of the fully diluted and post-issue paid-up capital of the company.

Elaborating on the company's growth and expansion, Mr Pasrija informed that OIL had paid Rs 1,255 crore to the state exchequer in 2006-07, marking an quantum jump from about Rs 200 crore five years ago.

He said the large acquisition of acreages after the NELP VI round of bidding, adding six acreages to the existing six in a single round of bidding, has accelerated OIL's growth.

The CMD further informed that three of the six new acreages are in North East, two in Assam and one in Mizoram, adding that 75 per cent of its acreages are in category I basin and the company had recorded more than 200 per cent reserve replacement ratio in 2006-07. He also said that OIL had signed MoUs with British Gas Exploration and Production India Ltd and HPCL for joint bidding in NELP VII, when the company targeted to expand its presence further, especially in deep water exploration.

To a query on OIL's share in total production in the country after the NELP VI bidding, Mr Pasrija said, ''We are targeting to start drilling within two years and that would lead to our increased share in the country's total production. However, it is not possible to speculate now.'' OIL currently produces 10 per cent of the total crude oil produced annually in the country, and seven per cent of the annual natural gas produced.

On the company's CSR, the CMD divulged that several new initiatives to undertake development in operating areas would be unveiled on February 18, when the OIL formally begins its golden jubilee celebration.

In Assam, the company had been helping infrastructure development, like building of roads and bridges, health care through mobile dispensaries and education sector, besides providing indirect employment by training local youths in handicrafts, latest farming techniques, etc.

About 40,000 families have already been benefited by its project 'Rupantar', with an aim to create self-employment and promote entrepreneurship among the local population, Mr Pasrija said.

The OIL had signed a MoU with the State Institute of Rural Development to realize this goal.

UNI