GAIL may pick stake in ONGIO International

Our Corporate Bureau

Mumbai, Dec 9: State-owned Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) is interested in picking up equity in ONGIO International Pvt Ltd, the joint venture between Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and IndianOil Corporation (IOC).

IOC chairman MA Pathan said, “GAIL has expressed its desire to join the Consortium and there are synergies among the three oil companies.” He added that if GAIL joins the Consortium, the hydrocarbon chain would be complete as GAIL is involved in distribution, while ONGC and IOC are involved in exploration and refining, respectively. Mr Pathan added that the three companies are still discussing how much stake GAIL would pick up in the Consortium and added that the talks are at initial stages. ONGIO is involved in taking up assignments in India and abroad in the areas of training, consultancy and services in both the upstream and downstream hydrocarbon sector.

The Consortium has already bagged oil blocks for exploration announced by the Government under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (Nelp). Mr Pathan added that the two oil companies are working on oilfields in Iran to procure crude. However, he did not comment on the Government’s proposal to merge the three oil giants - ONGC, IOC and GAIL - saying the Government would take a call on the issue. On IOC’s proposal to export diesel to Pakistan, Mr Pathan added that the company has put forward such a proposal to the ministry. “IOC had taken an initiative to try and export diesel to Pakistan as it is one of the major importers of high speed diesel (HSD),” Mr Pathan said. The issue was to be discussed during Pakistan president General Musharraf’s visit to India but could not be taken up. He added that the ministry would take up the issue. The quantity that could be exported and other details would be worked out later, he said. On whether IOC would be interested to pick up the AV Birla Group’s stake in Managlore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), Mr Pathan said that the company had shown interest in the past. He added that IOC had asked for details regarding the joint venture project between the AV Birla Group and the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd but failed to get the relevant papers.
However, he refused to comment on IOC’s present stance on the joint venture. “We would get a proper assessment conducted by the financial institutions (FI) and the management, if we feel it is worth looking at the propoal,” Mr Pathan said.