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2 Indian firms eye 40% in Aussie block
Videocon and Gujarat State Petroleum are set to buy 20% each in an Australian exploration block.
India's private-sector Videocon Industries Ltd and state-run Gujarat State Petroleum Corp Ltd are set to buy 20 per cent each in an Australian exploration block, three sources involved in the deal said.
The two companies would join Australia's Oilex NL as partners in EPP 27, currently owned by Great Artesian Oil and Gas Ltd.
"Oilex will first acquire 60 per cent stake in the permit from Great Artesian of which we will get 20 per cent each," one source told Reuters on Thursday.
Two other sources also confirmed the deal.
Great Artesian would retain 40 per cent interest in the block.
On Feb 14, Oilex had informed the Australian Stock Exchange that it had executed agreements with two Indian oil and gas companies without naming them.
Unlisted Gujarat State Petroleum, the parent of Gujarat State Petronet Ltd, made a 20 trillion cubic feet natural gas discovery off the country's east coast in 2005, India's largest gas find.
