AK Gupta has taken over as the Director (Operations) in the Board of ONGC Videsh, the international petroleum company of India. He brings over three decades of experience in various capacities in domestic and overseas operations.

He was most recently the Asset Manager Designate of Assam and prior to that Asset Manager Silchar, ONGC. Earlier, as Head of Business Development in ONGC Videsh, he managed the global business development activity of the company. In his first stint with ONGC Videsh, he managed ONGC Videsh assets in diverse geographies. Mr Gupta was instrumental in implementing projects from concept to commissioning, executed projects in Myanmar, both on land and offshore, in Vietnam in Asia Pacific, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela in Latin America- some of them under very challenging circumstances.

He started his career in 1984 when he joined ONGC’s corporate office as a young Graduate Trainee after obtaining his graduation degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Roorkee in 1983. He subsequently acquired MBA in Finance & Marketing from FMS, Delhi University in 1999. In ONGC he is credited to have worked in Marketing and Corporate level.

Mr Gupta is known for his varied experience in project management and business development both as head of new businesses in marketing in ONGC and head of business development in ONGC Videsh. He has successfully carried out commercial negotiations with alliance partners, regulators, customers and National Oil Companies.

ONGC Videsh Limited (ONGC Videsh) – a wholly owned subsidiary of ONGC, the National Oil Company of India, announces that Mozambique LNG1 Company Pte. Ltd., the jointly owned marketing entity of ONGC Videsh and joint venture partners of Mozambique Rovuma Offshore Area 1 project incorporated at Singapore, has entered into long-term LNG Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with a) Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. (Tokyo Gas) and Centrica LNG Company Ltd., a subsidiary of Centrica plc (Centrica) through a co-purchasing agreement for  sale of 2.6 million tonnes per annum (MMTPA) from the start-up of production until the early 2040s; b) CNOOC Gas and Power Singapore Trading & Marketing Pte. Ltd (CNOOC) for 1.5 MMTPA for a term of 13 years; c) Shell International Trading Middle East Ltd. (Shell) for 2 MMTPA for a term of 13 years; d) Bharat Gas Resources Ltd. a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. for 1 MMTPA for a term of 15 years and e) Pertamina, a state owned oil and gas company of Indonesia, for 1 MMTPA for a term of 20 years.

These latest deals build upon previously executed deals for long term offtake of LNG from Rovuma Offshore Area 1 project and take long-term sales to more than 9.5 MMTPA.

Strategically located off the East Coast of Africa, the Mozambique Rovuma Offshore Area 1 project is ONGC Videsh’s key natural gas project. The project is progressing towards developing initially an onshore LNG plant consisting of two LNG trains with total nameplate capacity of 12.88 MMTPA to support the development of the Golfinho-Atum field located entirely within Offshore Area 1. With the approval of the development plan in February 2018, ongoing resettlement implementation activities, site preparation and execution of these SPAs, the project is poised to take FID in H1 2019.

ONGC Videsh holds 16% interest in the Mozambique Rovuma Area-1 Offshore Project out of which 10% PI is held directly by ONGC Videsh and another 6% interest is held through its 60% shareholding in ‘Beas Rovuma Energy Mozambique Limited’ (“BREML”) while the remaining 40% shares in BREML are held by Oil India Limited (“OIL”). Anadarko Moçambique Área 1, Lda is the Operator of the project with 26.5% PI and the other partners are Mitsui E&P Mozambique Area1 Ltd. (20%), ENH (15%), BPRL (10%) and PTTEP (8.5%).

About ONGC Videsh

ONGC Videsh is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), the National Oil Company of India, and is the largest international oil and gas E&P Company of India. At present, ONGC Videsh has 41 projects in 20 countries including Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Iraq, Israel, Kazakhstan, Libya, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, New Zealand, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, UAE, Venezuela and Vietnam. ONGC Videsh maintains a balanced portfolio of producing, discovered/under development, exploratory and pipeline projects and has 2P reserves of 711.362 MMTOE as on April 1, 2018. For more information visit: https://www.ongcvidesh.com.

About ONGC

ONGC is a major integrated National Oil and Gas Company of India and is India’s largest producer of crude oil and natural gas.  During the financial year ended 31^st March, 2018, ONGC Group had produced 64.21MMT of oil and oil equivalent gas (MMTOE) (approx. 1.28 MMboe per day); the Consolidated Gross Turnover was INR 3,622.46 billion during FY’18 and total consolidated 2P oil and gas reserves were 1,863.45 MMTOE as on April 1, 2018. For more information visit: http://www.ongcindia.com

Disclaimer:

The information, statements, forecasts and projections contained herein reflect the Company’s current views based on reasonable assumptions. No assurance, however, can be given on the future events and projections. A number of factors can cause actual results to differ materially from those envisaged.

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ONGC Videsh receives The India Risk Management Award

In close succession of receiving Golden Peacock Award for Risk Management in December 2018, ONGC Videsh added another feather in its cap by receiving The India Risk Management Award constituted by ICICI Lombard & CNBC-TV18 in the category Best Risk Management Framework and Systems – PSU. The award was received by Shri Vivekanand, Director (Finance) on behalf of ONGC Videsh on 7^th February 2019 in a function held at Mumbai.

The mail of Executive Editor CNBC-TV18 announcing the award said “We are delighted and honoured to inform you that, our jury led by Ms. Arundhati Bhattacharya has selected ONGC Videsh Limited as the Winner in the category Best Risk Management Framework & Systems – PSU, at the 5^th edition of The India Risk Management Awards. As you are aware, these awards recognise those organisations and teams that have significantly added to the understanding and practice of risk management”.

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) system was established in ONGC Videsh in April 2012 with in-house efforts and is now aligned with ISO 31000:2018, the international standard on Risk Management. The system has matured over the years and well integrated into business processes of the company. It is underpinned by a set of principles and includes the exercise of identification, assessment and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated application of resources to monitor, control and minimize the probability and impact of unexpected events.

Implementation of SAP GRC (Governance, Risk and Compliances) module has further strengthened ERM System monitoring through capturing Monthly reporting of risk events and Quarterly compliance on Risk Register. Risk dashboard further helps Management for informed decisions through screens showing on world map Projects with their risk scores, significant risks, risk heat maps and status of quarterly compliances.

While complimenting on receiving this award, the Executive Committee of ONGC Videsh exhorted to keep the momentum going achieving greater heights and improved organizational performance.

ONGC achieves second consecutive success in an onshore well Indico-1X, Colombia

ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL), the wholly owned subsidiary and overseas arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC), the National Oil Company of India has registered a significant discovery of oil in its onshore block CPO-5, Colombia, in Llanos Basin. OVL, which is Operator, holds 70% stake in the block along with its Partner Petrodorado South America S.A. Sucursal (PDSA), Colombia (30%).

The well Indico-1 was spudded on 7^th November 2018 and completed the drilling on 15^th December 2018. The well Indico-1 encountered Lower Sands (LS-3) of Une Formation (Cretaceous) at a depth of 9833 feet (MD) found to be oil bearing, before terminating the drilling at 10,602 feet (MD) in Paleozoic. The well was successfully logged and found to have 284 feet of gross thickness and 241 feet net pay, single hydrodynamically connected reservoir with no indication of OWC. A 40 ft interval of the upper part of LS-3 reservoir was perforated and completed for production in self-flow. During the test, the well flowed at self-flow rate of appx. 4,000 BOPD at bean size 40/64” and THP of 241 psi with oil of 35.9° API, BS&W – 0.3/0.4% and negligible gas. Currently the Well is under Short Term Testing with multi bean study for further evaluation.

Importantly, OVL had earlier discovered commercial oil of 40° API in LS-3 sands in the well Mariposa-1 in 2017, which is located 6.5 km from Indico-1, and the continuation of same play is confirmed in the recent well. The Company now plans to drill more exploratory wells to chase this important Cretaceous clastic corridor in immediate future. OVL is also embarking on acquiring additional 3D Seismic data to map more drillable prospects in the other sectors of the block.

OVL has a significant presence in Colombian Oil & Gas sector and holds PI in 6 exploratory blocks in addition to a producing 50% joint venture company, Mansarovar Energy Colombia Ltd (MECL).

ONGC Videsh Declares H1 FY’19 Financial Results

Financial results of ONGC Videsh Ltd, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), for the half year ended September 30, 2018 were considered and approved by the Board in its meeting held on November 14, 2018. The performance highlights are as under:

Standalone and consolidated production of Crude Oil and Oil Equivalent of Gas together during H1 FY’19 was higher by 8.8% and 1.4% respectively as compared to H1 FY’18 mainly due to increased production from Sakhalin-1, Russia and addition of production of Lower Zakum Concession, UAE acquired in March’2018.

The Company recorded its standalone profit of ₹ 432 crore during H1 FY’19 as against profit of ₹ 134 crore in H1 FY’18 and consolidated profit of 1,384 Crore during H1 FY’19 as against consolidated profit of ₹ 142 crore of H1 FY’18, mainly due to higher production, higher prices and exchange variation.

A. Highlights

• Production from Greater Pioneer Operating Company (GPOC), South Sudan project of ONGC Videsh has resumed after prolonged shutdown since December 2013. The Minister of Petroleum, Republic of South Sudan and Minister of Petroleum and Gas, Republic of Sudan in the presence of Ministry and related companies’ officials on 25^th August 2018, officially declared pumping of first crude oil from Toma South field of South Sudan to Heglig in Sudan. Presently the field is flowing crude oil at ~15000 bbl/day.

• The first equity cargo of Das Blend crude produced from Lower Zakum Concession, ADNOC Offshore, UAE arrived at New Mangalore port on 08^th June 2018. This equity crude of ONGC Videsh was refined at MRPL, and is another step in ensuring India’s energy security needs. Total Das Blend equity oil purchased by MRPL during June to October’2018 is 2.38 MMBBL.

• Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on 18^th April 2018 amongst ONGC Videsh, Rosneft Vietnam BV (Operator) and PetroVietnam relating to further exploration activities in Block 06.1, Vietnam for exploration in deeper Clastic prospect.

• ONGC Videsh has entered into a Cooperation Agreement with UzbekNefteGaz on 28^th Sept 2018 to jointly explore the possibilities to assess the potential opportunities in exploration blocks, under-development assets and producing fields/blocks located within the Republic of Uzbekistan and third countries pertaining to upstream sector.

B. About ONGC Videsh

ONGC Videsh is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), the National Oil Company of India, and is India’s largest international oil and gas Company. ONGC Videsh has participation in 41 projects in 20 countries including Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Vietnam and New Zealand. ONGC Videsh maintains a balanced portfolio of producing, discovered/under development, exploratory and pipeline projects. The Company currently operates/ jointly operates 21 projects. ONGC Videsh had total oil and gas reserves (2P) of about 711 MMTOE as on April 1, 2018. For more information visit:  www.ongcvidesh.com.

c. About ONGC:

ONGC’s market capitalization as on November 13, 2018 was ₹ 2.01 trillion (USD 27.57 billion). During the financial year ended March 31, 2018, ONGC Group had produced 64.21 MMTOE oil and oil equivalent gas and the consolidated gross turnover was ₹ 3,622.46 billion (USD 55.8 billion) during FY’18. For more information visit: www.ongcindia.com

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Press Release

“A Sudanese Ministerial delegation comprising H.E. Dr. Awad Ahmed Mohammed Elgaz, Assistant to the President of the Republic of the Sudan; H.E. Azhari Abdalgadir Abdalla Abdalgadir, Minister of Petroleum; H.E. Mr. Osama Faisal Elsayed Ali, State Minister of Foreign Affairs; H.E. Mr.Tarig Hassan Ali Shalabi, State Minister of Finance; H.E. Mr. Sirajuddin Hamid Yousif, Ambassador of the Republic of the Sudan to India, and other Sudanese officials visited ONGC Videsh Corporate Office at New Delhi on August 7, 2018 and held discussions with ONGC Videsh officials led by Shri Narendra K Verma, Managing Director and CEO.

The Ministerial delegation informed that the Government of Sudan is making sincere efforts to mitigate the issue of default on payment dues to ONGC Videsh. It was informed that the Government of Sudan is hopeful that its economic situation shall be improving henceforth with the recent agreement it reached with the Government of South Sudan on resumption of crude oil transportation from South Sudan territory through the Heglig-Port Sudan pipeline. The visiting delegation requested ONGC Videsh to withdraw the Arbitration process instituted against the Government of Sudan.

ONGC Videsh expressed its happiness for the positive response from Sudan and stated that it is always ready to work with Sudan to find a workable solution to clear the pending dues in a time bound manner. It was further informed by ONGC Videsh that keeping the legal intricacies in view, the arbitration process can continue while both sides work together on suitable mechanism of resolving the issues. On the request of the visiting delegation, ONGC Videsh agreed to depute a team of senior level officials to Sudan for initiating techno-commercial discussions afresh so as to workout way forward for settlement of past dues. Subsequently, the ONGC Videsh team arrived at Khartoum on August 13, 2018 and discussions with the Sudanese side are presently ongoing”.

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