ONGC to go alone in $6-bn Mozambique gas stake buy

ONGC has said it can go alone for the $5-6 billion acquisition of a 20% stake in the Rovuma basin gas block in Mozambique and it was not in talks with any global major to share the cost of acquisition as funds were not a constraint. Anupama Airy reports. Who holds how much

India's biggest oil and gas exploration company, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), has said it can go alone for the $5-6 billion acquisition of a 20% stake in the Rovuma basin gas block in Mozambique and it was not in talks with any global major to share the cost of acquisition as funds were not a constraint.

The block holds up to 60 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas.

Funding the Mozambique acquisition is not a concern for ONGC that is currently engaged in talks with both Videocon Industries and US' Anadarko Petroleum to buy out their respective 10% stake in the block, Sudhir Vasudeva, CMD, told HT.

On whether ONGC will bid for the stake jointly with its prospective partner Shell India, Vasudeva said, "There is no such plan and besides we don't need any foreign player to join us for acquiring this 20% stake… We can do it all by ourselves, and Oil India was already there with it."

Shell is also one of the contender for a 10% stake in the block. A decision on the stake sale may be taken soon, said Vasudeva.

ONGC is also in the process of finalising an investment of Rs 25,000 crore for putting up a gas-processing terminal in Maharashtra along with a gas-based fertiliser plant or a 2,200- MW power plant.

"We are yet to decide if along with the gas-processing terminal, we will go for a fertiliser or a power plant but we will be utilising gas coming from our marginal fields to fuel one of these two projects," he said.