India's ONGC says Venezuela's PDVSA to Supply Oil

Posted by Michelle Howard October 27, 2016

Venezuela's national oil company Petroleos de Venezuela has agreed to supply oil on a monthly basis to India to help settle dues which Venezuela owes to India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd, ONGC Chairman D K Sarraf said on Thursday.

He said the agreement with PDVSA would be signed shortly.

ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas subsidiary of ONGC, invested $190 million in 2009-10 in the San Cristobal project in Venezuela.

However, the company got only a small part of its dividend from the field which continued to increase production.

The issue was discussed during a visit to India by Venezuelan oil minister Eulogio del Pino and his Indian counterpart Dharmendra Pradhan, Sarraf said.

Venezuela is India's fourth largest source of crude oil. In 2015-16, India imported 23.6 million tonne of crude from Venezuela, accounting for around 12 percent of India's crude imports.

ONGC Videsh, state-owned refiner Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Oil India Ltd have stakes in two Venezuelan oil blocks.

(By Nidhi Verma)