Angola and India ink oil exploration deal

[ Oil deal]

* Big step forward in India’s efforts

to enter Angolan market

* Western countries and China currently

Africa’s largest oil producer.

ANGOLA: Angola and India’s state oil companies Wednesday inked a deal to boost co-operation in areas of exploration and refining in the two countries as well as other nations.

The memorandum of understanding was signed at Sonangol’s headquarters in Luanda by the company’s Chairman Manuel Vicente and RS Sharma, Chairman of India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

It signifies a big step forward in India’s efforts to enter the Angolan market, where western countries and China are currently the main players in Africa’s largest oil producer.

“We have been pursing opportunities for the last six or seven years, but today we have signed a memorandum of understanding that shows co-operation between the two companies to work together in the future,” Sharma told reporters.

“We agreed that the two companies can also work together for co-operation in India and in third countries.”

He added that the governments of India and Angola were also planning to sign a larger deal within the next month which would open opportunities to work together in all areas, including research and development and technology.

“This will be for mutual co-operation in upstream and downstream activities — that is exploration, refining, gas marketing and LNG (liquefied natural gas) and all activities of petroleum business,” he said.

The ONGC delegation, which was travelling with India’s oil minister Murli Deora and other Indian energy companies, came to Luanda from Nigeria. Later Wednesday they were due to fly to Uganda.

Shri BC Tripathi, chairman and managing director of Gail (India) Limited, India’s flagship gas company, was among the delegation.

He said discussions have been held on Indian investment in LNG projects in Angola.

“We have talked about sourcing LNG from the project which is due to start commissioning in December 2012, and also the possibility of participating in a second LNG project as a promoter and taking equity.”

Angola oil minister Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos said the deals “established a way of deepening business co-operation” between the countries and their oil companies.

In 2009 Angola exported 43 million barrels of oil to India — accounting for 6.5 percent of its exports.

LUANDA, Thursday, AFP