ONGC to sell 10 pc stake in Cauvery basin block to Rocksource

NEW DELHI: State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp today said it will sell 10 per cent stake in a Cauvery basin deep-sea block to Rocksource ASA of Norway.

ONGC, which is the operator of block CY-DWN-2001/1 with 55 per cent stake, signed an agreement to farm-out 10 per cent of its stake to Rocksource yesterday, a company press release said here today.

Oil India Ltd (OIL) and Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) are its other partners in the block that was awarded to ONGC in the first bidding round under New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) in 1999.

The agreement to assign participating interest in the block is subject to the consent of OIL, Petrobras and the government, it added.

ONGC would hold 45 per cent participating interest in the block post assignment of 10 per cent. Company sources said it had made a gas discovery in the block and has submitted a development plan for the same but refused to give details.

The state-run corp had in January 2008 signed a memorandum of understanding with Rocksource ASA for cooperation in exploration and production (E&P) sector in India and overseas.

The Norwegian firm is a technology-driven E&P company specialising in interpretation of EM data, whose technical expertise would be used for exploration blocks of ONGC.