India Petroleum Update
India is seeking a stake in the giant Kashagan oil field (which has variuosly been touted as the second to fifth largest oil field in the world).
In Astana (capital of Kazakhstan) Mani Shankar Aiyar furthered his hunt for oil capital via comprehensive partnerships by saying India could buy stakes in Kazakh oil fields like the giant Kashagan and Kurmangazy, as well as help build pipelines that would carry the oil to China. This is a very significant expansion of horizons by Aiyar.
From the second biggest oil field to the second-biggest producer - Russia. Aiyar's next stop was Russia where he furthered the agenda of stake acquisition in Yuganskneftegas, Rosneft's Vankor oil field and the Sakhalin-3 projects. He also made a strong case for Russian participation in the Indian oil scene.
BTW, what happenned with Yuganskneftegas? I thought ONGC was already selected for the 15% stake. Well, apparently this:
On the domestic front, ONGC is finally opening up the Sunderbans front for oil and gas exploration with a Rs 600 crore investment.Rosneft chairman Sergei Bogdanchikov said on February 6 that ONGC may acquire a stake in Yuganskneftegas, but Russian media have reported that no decision on the move would be taken until a US court in Houston, Texas rules on Yukos' request for US bankruptcy protection.
To a question about the possibility of finding oil and gas, Raha said, "unless we get positive data, we would not have invested so much funds there."
