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India's Essar Oil eyeing Kurdistan oil blocks
31.5.2008
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May
31, 2008
MUMBAI, India, — Indian oil refiner Essar Oil
Ltd (ESRO.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) is keen to
own oil and gas blocks in Iraq's largely autonomous
northern Kurdistan region, a senior official said on
Friday.
The Kurdistan Regional government has already
awarded production-sharing contracts to foreign
companies including India's top listed company
Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.BO: Quote, Profile,
Research).
The move has angered Iraq, which has threatened to
blacklist the firms.
"The prospects for the blocks in the region are very
good," S.R. Agrawal, Chief Executive of Essar's
exploration and production unit said on the
sidelines of an analysts' meeting.
Essar Oil has a 210,000 barrels per day refinery
which it aims to expand to 1 million barrels a day
within three years.
It hopes to own oil blocks that would supply nearly
a third of the refinery's capacity in about seven
years, Agrawal said.
Essar currently owns a few blocks,www.ekurd.net
largely exploratory, in
India, Vietnam, Nigeria and Madagascar and has also
bid for blocks in Australia.
The company, which started commercial production at
its refinery on May 1, was also looking at buying
crude from Cairn India Ltd (CAIL.BO: Quote, Profile,
Research), an unit of UK's Cairn Energy (CNE.L:
Quote, Profile, Research), its Chief Executive
Naresh Nayyar said.
"Their pipeline is only 10 km away from our
refinery," he said. Cairn will start production at
its oil field in the desert state of Rajasthan in
the second half of 2009.
Essar now sources crude from the Middle East and
Venezuela, Nayyar said.
Shares in Essar Oil ended 2.8 percent lower at
223.65 rupees in a firm Mumbai market.
Copyright, respective author or news agency, Reuters
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