OVL, OIL-IOC combine win oil block in Libya
Press Trust of India
New Delhi, October 10, 2005
ONGC Videsh Ltd and Oil India Ltd-Indian Oil Corp (OIL-IOC) combine have won an oil block each in Libya.
OVL, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), won Block 81/1 in Ghadames basin while OIL-IOC combine bagged Block 102/4 in the Sirte basin, a government official said.
OIL-IOC combine had won Block 86 in the same basin in January.
"The Libyan government approved the award of 44 blocks in the second round last week. Indian firms managed to win two blocks," the official said.
The awards were made on the basis of the signature bonus offered by the companies and the share of production they desired to keep from the hydrocarbons discovered in the blocks. Higher signature bonus and lower percentage of production keep made for the selection criteria.
The official said OVL would pay a signature bonus of $6 million for the Block 81/1 while OIL-IOC combine would pay $3 million.
OVL offered to keep 11.8 per cent of any discovery in the block while OIL-IOC combine offered to keep 10.5 per cent of the any hydrocarbon find.
Libya offerd 44 blocks - 10 offshore blocks, eight each in Cyrenaica, Murzuq and Kufra basins, six in Sirte Basin and four in Ghadames Basin - in the second round for which bids were opened on October 2.
Libya, the eighth largest producer of the 11-member OPEC, has held only two auctions since it discovered oil in 1959 because of the US sanctions that were imposed in 1986 but lifted last year. Four more auctions are planned for 2006 and 2007, offering exploration permits in 261 plots.
© HT Media Ltd. 2005.