India’s ONGC to receive 15,000 bpd from Sudan oil block

Sept 25, 2006 (NEW DELHI) — State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) (BSE:500312) has said it was entitled to receive 15,000 barrels per day of crude oil as its share from Sudan’s Block ‘5A’ output.

“Mala field in Block 5A is due to come to production in 2007 after which our share from the entire Block 5A output would be 15,000 barrels per day,” ONGC Director (Human Resources) A K Balyan said.

Mala is the second oil field in Block 5A after the Thar Jath field, which is producing 38,000 bpd of crude oil. Mala field is expected to start production with 10,000 bpd in 2007 which would go up to 20,000 bpd by 2008.

ONGC’s overseas arm ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) has a 24.125 per cent stake in Sudan’s Block 5A.

Talking about the political climate in Sudan, Balyan said ONGC is keeping a constant watch on the developments in the region.

He, however, said the current events are not going to effect ONGC’s assets in Sudan.

Sudan, where fighting between government-back militia and rebels is said to have killed over 400,000 people in the last three years, has rejected a UN plan to deploy peacekeeping troops in the troubled Darfur region.

Apart from 5A, OVL also has a 25 per cent stake in Sudan’s Greater Nile Oil Project (Block 1, 2 and 4), which produces 280,000 bpd.

OVL, which entered Sudan in 2003, already has three oil blocks in Sudan. It has also built a 741-km-long multi product Pipeline linking Khartoum Refinery to Port Sudan.

(PTI)