ONGC Videsh plans oil trading JV with Azerbaijan's SOCAR: report
30 May 2016
ONGC Videsh (OVL), the overseas acquisition arm of state-owned explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC, has signed an initial pact with the trading arm of Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR, as part of its move to enter oil trading business.
OVL plans to initially sell its share of oil from the large Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) group of fields in Azerbaijan through the new venture, reports quoting OVL sources said.
The company, which is traditionally into the business of exploration and production, proposes to use the vertical to market its oil from other assets once it has sizeable hydrocarbon volumes to sell.
The aim is to develop own marketing capability to capture better value of its hydrocarbons and whatever it produces, BusinessLine quoted Narendra K Verma, OVL managing director, as saying in an earlier report.
OVL currently owns stake in oil and gas assets in 16 countries, including Russia, Sudan and Brazil and produced about 178,400 barrels per day of oil and gas equivalent in the fiscal year ended 31 March 2016.
Currently, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), a subsidiary of ONGC, trades in oil produced by OVL.