BG Group to invest $500 million in India
02 Nov 2010
British energy major BG Group Plc, which on Sunday announced a $15 billion investment in an LNG project in Australia (See: BG Group approves $15-bn investment in Australian LNG project), today said it plans to invest about half a billion dollars in India over the next five years.
Walter Simpson, head of the India operations, revealed the company's expansion plans on the sidelilnes of the Petrotech oil and gas conference in Delhi today. ''We are looking at both upstream and downstream opportunities for expansion in India,'' said Simpson. The BG Group is also looking at participating in the ninth round under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP).
It has also expressed interest in acquiring a stake in a new gas discovery block of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin. This follows the exit of two international players, Petrobras of Brazil and Norsk Hydro of Norway.
The BG Group has interests in exploration and production (E&P), transmission and distribution (T&D), and marketing and distribution of natural gas in India. It has held a 30 per cent stake in the mid and south Tapti gas fields and the Panna/Mukta oil and gas fields since 2002.
In 2006, the group acquired a 45-per cent interest in an exploration block in the KG basin after bidding for it in the sixth round of the NELP. ONGC holds the remaining 55 per cent. The BG group was awarded an exploration block in the deep waters of the KG basin in June this year, following a successful bid in the NELP-8 licensing.
The group has a 65-per cent stake in Gujarat Gas Company Ltd (GGCL), which is India's largest private sector natural gas distribution company. GGCL caters to nearly 300,000 residential, comercial and industrial consumers through a pipeline network of over 3,500 km.
The British group also has a 49.75-per cent stake in Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL), with state-owned Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) being an equal partner. MGL caters to the needs of 400,000 consumers and has a 3,000-km pipeline network.
BG India Energy Solutions Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary, commenced midstream gas marketing operations in India in 2009.
