IOC eyes 5-10% stake in Russia's Vankor oilfield

NEW DELHI: Hot on the heels of OVL's $1.27 billion deal to buy stake in Vankor oilfield of Russia, state- owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has expressed interest in taking 5-10%stake in the Rosneft-operated field. ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), had on September 4 agreed to buy 15% stake in Russia's second biggest oil field of Vankor from Rosneft for $1.268 billion. While the OVL deal is yet to be closed, in stake in Vankor field, sources with direct knowledge of the development said.Besides IOC, Oil India Ltd (OIL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd ( BPCL) too are interested in picking a stake in Vankor, they said. IOC has dashed off a letter to Rosneft with an offer to buy 5-10% stake in Vankor on same terms as of the OVL deal. Sources said originally OVL was negotiating to buy 25% stake in Vankorneft, the developer of the Vankor oil and gas condensate field in Turukhansky district of Krasnoyak Territory in Russia. But Rosneft was willing to give no more than 10% . A 10%stake would not have given OVL a position on board of Vankorneft and so the Indian firm pressed hard and got a higher 15% interest with right to nominate two board member.