Indian Videocon eyeing oil fields in Sudan and Yemen
NEW DELHI, June 3, 2005 (Asia Pulse) — Videocon Industries Ltd is eyeing oil fields in Sudan and Yemen and is considering investing in the development and exploration of oil in India and in the Middle East.
Videocon is on the verge of closing talks with the Sudanese government on taking up to a 74 per cent stake in an offshore oil block that may involve an investment of US$100 million, a source close to the company said.
The Group, which also makes televisions and home appliances, is also closing in on an onland block in Yemen.
At home, Videocon has bid for prospecting for oil and gas in three out of the 20 blocks auctioned under fifth round of New Exploration Licensing Policy.
Videocon tied up with Perth-based Oilex and India Hydrocarbon Ltd to bid for one block each in Assam-Arakan, Bay of Bengal and Maharashtra.
“The consortium has bid very aggressively and stands good chance of winning the Maharashtra onland block and possibily also the Assam-Arakam block,” the source said.
Oilex, listed on Australian bourses, has bid for the first time in an exploration round in India.
Energy-hungry India, which imports 75 per cent of its oil needs and barely produces the gas it consumes, has been pushing for intensfying exploration of domestic basins and encouraged companies to acquire oil and gas fields abroad.
Recently, Videocon signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Khartoum province in Sudan for investing and developing oil projects there.
Videocon already has a stake in the Indian oil field, Raava, located in the Krishna-Godavari basin off the country’s eastern shore.