INDIA LOST AGAIN ON ENERGY FRONT:

ONGC loses Algeria oilfield bid to Chinese co


NEW DELHI:1.1.2010.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has lost an oilfield in Algeria to a consortium led by a Chinese oil firm.

ONGC teamed up with Turkish Petroleum Corp (TPAO) and UAE’s Dana Gas to bid for the hotly contested Hassi Bir Rekaiz acreage in Algeria’s latest licensing round, sources said.

It however lost the prized property to a consortium of China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) and Thailand’s PTTEP.

Spain’s Cepsa and Russia’s Gazprom were the other bidders for the acreage. Hassi Bir Rekaiz in the Berkine Basin was relinquished by Australia’s BHP Billiton after a 2005 award.

Algeria awarded three permits in its bid round for 10 exploration areas that closed on December 22, they said.

Last month, ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of the state-run firm, had lost a bid for the Halfaya oilfield in Iraq’s second post-war bid round, to a consortium of China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), Petronas Cargali Sdn Bhd of Malaysia and France’s T otal SA, sources said.

OVL had teamed up with Oil India Ltd and TPAO to bid $1.76 per barrel fee for boosting the output from Halfaya field to 550,000 barrels per day.

CNPC-led group offered to boost production to 535,000 bpd from current the 3,000 bpd at a cost of $1.40 a barrel. The Halfaya oilfield has estimated reserves of 4.1 billion barrels of oil, they said.

OVL had, in the first Iraqi round in June 2009, lost the Zubair oilfield. — PTI