Return
to Story Page
To print: Select File and then Print from your
browser's menu
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
MUMBAI, SEPT 26: Tata group petroleum ventures firm Tata Petrodyne has decided to sell 30 per cent of its equity in Cambay Basin Oil Exploratory Block CB-OS/2, off the Gujarat coastline, to British upstream player Cairn Energy.
This is the second such sale in recent months by Tata Petrodyne. The first sales was in another Cambay basin field CB-OS/1 to US company Enron Oil and Gas. The stake of the Tata firm in CB-OS/2 will come down from 45 per cent to 15 per cent once the deal is through. Cairn Energy already has a 45 per cent holding which will increase to 75 per cent. The remaining 10 per cent is with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
``We are in the process of increasing our presence in the CB-OS/2 block to 75 per cent, by acquiring 30 per cent equity from Tata Petrodyne,'' Cairn Energy Pte Ltd (CEPL) executive director Bruce McCarthy said.
A Tata spokesperson confirmed this adding, however, that the sale proposal was still being negotiated and the deal needed to procure all the necessaryofficial approvals. The spokesperson said the deal would involve the transfer of all exploratory rights in CB-OS/2 to CEPL.
McCarthy declined to divulge the financial aspects of the deal, saying it was premature to do so as several vital aspects were still being worked out. Asked how long it would take for the deal to be settled, McCarthy said it was difficult to predict as the country was going through an election process. ``Everything depends on the new government and its decisions,'' he said. CEPL has been in the country for several years now, its main project till date being the Ravva fields in Andhra Pradesh.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
------------------------------------------------------------
This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
------------------------------------------------------------