ONGC, GAIL, Petronet May Invest INR155B in Russia Gas Project - Report

Release Date: 2011-05-31

Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), GAIL and Petronet LNG may form a consortium to invest INR155 billion for a 15% stake in a liquefied natural gas project in Russia, the Hindustan Times reported Friday.

The consortium may buy a stake in the $30 billion LNG project of Russia's biggest independent natural gas producer, OAO Novatek (NVTK.RS), in the Yamal peninsula, the report said, citing an unidentified executive at one of the Indian companies.

A non-binding indicative bid is underway and the stake would be split between ONGC Videsh Ltd., GAIL and Petronet as 7.5%, 5% and 2.5%, respectively, the report said.

ONGC Videsh is the overseas investment arm of state-run explorer Oil & Natural Gas.

"We are not aware of any such bid," Petronet Chief Executive A.K. Balyan told Dow Jones Newswires. ONGC Chairman A.K. Hazarika declined to comment while GAIL's chairman wasn't immediately reachable for comment.

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