India mulls new oil projects with Russia
State-owned energy firm Oil India Limited is interested in joining new oil projects in Russia, a top company official has said.
The company is assessing the opportunities and carrying out due diligence in Russia, the chairman and managing director of Oil India, Ranjit Rath, told journalists on the sidelines of the India Energy Week forum.
“Yes,” he said when asked by the TASS news agency if Oil India was interested in new oil projects in Russia. However, the company is not yet giving a definite answer about specific projects because there are commercial decisions to be made, he added. As a member of consortiums, Oil India Limited already owns stakes in joint developments between Indian companies and Russia’s state oil firm Rosneft.
The Oil India chairman also said that due to the sanctions against Russia the company has had issues with repatriating dividends from its current activities in the country. The company is studying various options for transferring the funds from its accounts in Russia to accounts in India and is assessing possible legal ramifications, he added.
According to Rath, Oil India is also mulling cooperation with other countries, such as Libya. It is also in talks with operators to ramp up oil production in Venezuela, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing sources.
In an interview on Thursday with S&P Global, Rath said that despite the global push to develop renewable energy, oil will continue to hold “the maximum share in the primary energy mix.” Investment in oil and gas projects and related infrastructure will keep growing, he added.
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