GUWAHATI: State-owned ONGC may shift its proposed new basin to Cachar in Assam from Agartala, where initial work had already begun last year.

The ONGC board is likely to take a decision on the upcoming second basin of North East in the next six months.

GUWAHATI: State-owned oil major ONGC has said the preliminary discussion for its acquisition of India's third-biggest fuel retailer HPCL has started and is going on at the ministerial level.

"The talks are going on at ministerial level. We have not discussed it at the ONGC board. The petroleum ministry wants this to happen because if integration takes place, there will be value creation," ONGC Director (onshore) Ved Prakash Mahawar told PTI here.

New Delhi, Mar 14 () In a boost to firms like Reliance Industries and ONGC, the oil ministry has moved a proposal to the Cabinet for allowing pricing freedom for natural gas produced from coal seams.

The ministry has proposed to the Cabinet that coal-bed methane (CBM) gas producers be given pricing freedom and allowed to price the fuel at market rates, sources privy to the development said.

What could be said as its biggest discovery after a gap of three years in Assam, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has made reserve accretion of 10 million metric tonnes (MMT) of oil in the state.

The area of the discovery falls in Jorhat district and two wells, one each at Sufayam and Dayalpur, have already been drilled to exploit this 10 MMT reserve.

News reports are abuzz with speculation that Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC) may acquire the government’s 51.1% stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL). While there is no official confirmation of this news yet, who will benefit the most if it plays out according to the reports?

Prima facie, it looks like the government will walk away with the booty in this case. The government will earn about $4-4.5 billion as a result of this acquisition. That should assist it in meeting its divestment target. Based on Tuesday’s market price, the deal works out to Rs27,786 crore (or $4.17 billion).

Shares of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) tanked over 5% on the BSE on news reports the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) may acquire HPCL in an about Rs 44,000 crore deal as part of the government's plan to create an integrated oil giant.

Reacting to the buzz, the stock of HPCL shed 5% to Rs 531 in intraday trade on the BSE. Stock of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) also slipped nearly 3% to Rs 670. ONGC was trading flat at Rs 194.

New Delhi, Feb 28 () The government has bailed out state-owned oil producers ONGC and Oil India from a potential liability of about Rs 22,000 crore in royalty dues to states like Gujarat and Assam.

The central government will pay two state-owned firms' outstanding liabilities of Rs 14,698 crore directly to the state governments, who will not insist on levy of Rs 7,223 crore interest on payments that were due from April 2008.

India's state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp will take control of Hindustan Petroleum Corp as part of the government's plan to create an integrated public sector oil entity, the Economic Times daily reported on Monday citing top government officials.

India plans to create a giant oil company by combining state-owned firms, finance minister Arun Jaitley said in the budget speech earlier this month as the world's third largest oil consumer looks to better compete with global majors in acquiring foreign assets.

New Delhi, Feb. 24: The board of ONGC Ltd has approved the signing of an agreement to buy debt-laden GSPC's entire 80 per cent stake in the KG basin gas block for $1.2 billion. The state-owned explorer will also invest $1.10 billion in GSPC assets to produce about 15 million tonnes of oil and about 3 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas.

"The ONGC board has approved the execution of farm-in/farm-out agreement with GSPC in respect of an acquisition of 80 per cent participative interest (PI) and operatorship in the Nelp-III block KG-OSN-2001/3," the state-owned firm said.

NEW DELHI: The government’s plan to create an integrated oil company will likely involve Oil and Natural Gas Corp taking over either Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) or Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) but won’t result in a mega merger leading to the creation of an industry giant.

In his February 1 Budget speech, FM Arun Jaitley had said the government proposes to “create an integrated public sector oil major which will be able to match the performance of international and domestic private sector oil and gas companies”.

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