India To Buy Stakes In Offloaded Western Oil Companies In Russia

According to individuals acquainted with the situation, India is set to buy stakes in offloaded western oil companies due to sanctions in Russia.

Sources told Reuters on Thursday that India has requested state-run energy corporations to look into the prospect of buying BP’s investment in Rosneft, a Russian firm plagued by sanctions. BP has already indicated that it will sell its 19.75 percent ownership in the Russian firm.

According to individuals acquainted with the situation, the Indian oil ministry informed ONGC Videsh (OVL), Indian Oil, Bharat Petro Resources, Hindustan Petroleum’s subsidiary Prize Petroleum, Oil India, and GAIL of its intentions last week (India).

The ministry also ordered OVL, the Oil and Natural Gas Ministry’s international investment branch, to contemplate acquiring a 30% share in the Sakhalin 1 project in Russia’s Far East owned by US supermajor ExxonMobil. OVL now owns a 20% share in the project.

Given the risk involved, one of the individuals stated that Indian corporations want to obtain shares in Russian assets at discounted pricing.

“Our effort has been to see how we can stabilize economic transactions, economic engagements with Russia in the current context … There are of course constraints, there are sanctions by some countries, and we will have to kind of work through that,” According to media sources, India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.