OVL to acquire Cuba oil

OVL to acquire Cuba oil

PTI[ FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2006 05:30:06 PM]
NEW DELHI: ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and
Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), will on May 23 sign a contract to acquire stake
in seven oil and gas blocks in Cuba.

OVL had last September acquired 30 per cent stake in seven oil and gas
blocks in Cuba, which holds more than 4 billion barrels of oil reserves.
"A formal agreement with the Cubian government will be signed in
Havana," a company official said.

Spain's Repsol-YPF is the operator of the Block 25-29, 36 and a part of
Block 25 with 40 per cent stake and the remaining is with Norway's Norsk
Hydro.

"OVL had entered into an agreement on September 15 with Repsol-YPF of
Spain to acquire 30 per cent participating interest in the deepwater
exploration Blocks 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 36 and part of Block 35 in Gulf
of Mexico," the official said.

The blocks are spread over an area of nearly 12,000 sq km in the
Exclusive Economic Zone of Cuba.

"The hydrocarbon resource potential in the blocks is estimated to be in
excess of four billion barrels. One exploratory well drilled in one of
these blocks indicated presence of hydrocarbons," the official said.

These blocks are in the third exploration period. Work program during
this period includes acquisition 3,000 sq km 3-D seismic data.

Drilling wells on selected prospects will be decided in the next
exploration phase.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1527626.cms