ONGC Ready to Spend $15B on Acquisitions

Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd will invest $3 billion next year to raise domestic production and is ready to spend $15 billion on overseas acquisitions to feed India’s energy needs. State-run ONGC, which produces more than 80 percent of India’s oil, plans to boost domestic output by about 12 percent to 30 million tons by 2009/10 through new exploration and improving yields from existing fields. ONGC, which is eyeing oil fields in Kazakhstan and Nigeria, had been investing $1 billion every year in its overseas operations in the last five years. ONGC has also lined up big-budget investments in oil retailing, power and petrochemicals, despite pressure from India’s oil ministry not to venture into non-core sectors. ONGC could invest up to $15 billion in three refineries and two petrochemicals complexes in the next few years. (Source: Daily Times)