OVL, CNPC set off on joint oil hunt again

MUMBAI: The fledgling co-operation between Indian and Chinese companies in the oil and gas sector is set to get a leg up with ONGC Videsh teaming up with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) again, this time to bid for assets in Angola and Venezuela.

“ONGC and CNPC are jointly pursuing opportunities for securing oil equities in Angola and Venezuela. The bidding wars over global energy resources will push prices higher and such unnecessary competition is not good,” petroleum minister Murli Deora told ET.

This is the third such co-operation by the companies in the past two years. In 2005, the two companies had purchased an asset in Syria, followed by the 50% buyout in Colombian major Omimex de Colombia. The tie-up comes in the backdrop of a desperate search for oil and gas assets around the world by companies in both countries.