New Delhi, April 07: State-run Oil India Ltd has been considering spinning off its overseas exploration and production business into a separate unit, but no concrete decision has been taken so far, its director of finance said Wednesday.
“We have been contemplating forming a 100% wholly owned subsidiary, on the lines of ONGC Videsh Ltd., for our overseas operations for some time now,” TK Ananth Kumar told a newswire. “But it is too premature to say anything further at this stage.”
Oil India’s larger state-run rival, Oil & Natural Gas Corp, has all its overseas exploration and production assets under its wholly owned subsidiary, ONGC Videsh Ltd.
Kumar said a separate unit like OVL would help it focus on the overseas business at a time when it is looking to buy more assets abroad.
Oil India, which has cash reserves of about USD 2 billion, is seeking to buy overseas assets to spread its geographical risk and increase output, Chairman Nayan Mani Borah told Dow Jones in an interview in March.
Oil India has 17 oil and gas blocks overseas and holds 10% equity in 741 kilometers of crude oil pipeline in Sudan, according to a February investor presentation on the company’s Web site.
–Agencies