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OIL willing to take over ONGC's Assam oilfields

Sunday, 31 January 2010

01 Feb 2010;business-standard.com:New Delhi: As the government mulls hiving off Oil and Natural Gas Corp’s (ONGC’s) Assam oilfields, state-owned Oil India Ltd (OIL) has said it is willing to take over the assets and can run the fields more efficiently than the current owner. “There is no probability, we will definitely be able to run them (Assam oilfields of ONGC) better than anyone else,” OIL Chairman and Managing Director N M Borah told a news conference here. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has suggested that ONGC explore the possibility of hiving off its Assam assets into a wholly-owned subsidiary. The proposal is aimed at improving the productivity of ONGC’s Assam operations. ONGC produces 1.1 million tonnes of crude oil annually from the Assam fields, employing over 4,000 personnel. In contrast, OIL used 6,500-odd employees to produce 3.6 million tonnes of crude oil and is projecting annual growth of 3-5 per cent. OIL’s cost of production in the Northeast is under $7.5 per barrel, while that of ONGC is higher than that. “We will be in a position to run (the fields) better,” he said but hastened to add that OIL had not formally heard anything on hiving-off of ONGC’s Assam assets or their possible sale to OIL. “What we have heard is that the government of India is considering such a move. No one has proposed to OIL to take over... And (when that happens) the decision would be made based on detailed due diligence,” he said. “We haven’t yet reached that stage.”