Yemen inks pact with IOC, OIL for 5 hydrocarbon exploration blocks

New Delhi, Apr 16 (UNI) Expressing optimism in the Indian oil companies, Yemen has signed agreements with IOC and OIL for five hydrocarbon exploration blocks.

''These include agreements for blocks 82 and 83 by Oil India Ltd (OIL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) consortium with their foreign collaborators Medco Energy and Kuwait Energy and for block Nos 19, 28 and 57 by Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) with their foreign collaborators Jubilant Enpro and Alkor Petro,'' an official statement said here today.

The agreements, which were signed in the presence of Yemeni Minister of Oil and Minerals Khaled Mahfoudh Bahah on April 13 in Yemen, would go for ratification by its Parliament and then eventually would be sent for the signature of the president.

The procedure is expected to take about two months. Thus, the agreements will become operational and the work on exploration and prospecting of hydrocarbon is expected to commence during this year itself.

Seven oil blocks were allotted to different Indian companies in December 2006, which include 82 and 83 to OIL-IOC and 19, 28 and 57 to GSPC with foreign collaborators.

The agreements for blocks 34 and 37, which were allotted to Reliance India Limited (RIL) with Hayel Saeed Group of Yemen as the collaborator, were signed in November last year and it requires parliament's ratification.

Yemen plans to raise its oil output to about 5,00,000 barrels per day (BPD) in 2010 from its production of 3,17,000 BPD last year.

UNI SR SG RK2005