India offers Venezuela refinery stake, eyes oilfield

   Yahoo reports :
       India will offer Venezuela equity in a refining firm and take a stake a Venezuelan oilfield to cement growing ties between Asia's third largest consumer and the World's No. 5 exporter, top officials said on Friday.
      State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), which is bidding for foreign oil assets to secure energy supplies, is likely to take a 49 percent stake in the San Cristobal oilfield, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said.
      In return, Petroleos de Venezuela would be offered equity in ONGC's refining subsidiary, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, Aiyar told reporters after meeting Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez.
      "MRPL can process Venezuelan crude. In April, a delegation will go to Venezuela to discuss various issues including the quality of crude oil and the volume available," Aiyar said.
      Earlier, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said his country was keen to begin long-terum crude supplies to India.
      "We want to have a long-term agreement for crude oil with India," Chavez told a forum of Indian business leaders.
      India's sole private refiner, Reliance Industries started importing Venezuelan crude in recent years but state-run firms have not processed oil from the OPEC member.
      "Tomorrow, we will sign agreements with the prime minister for energy cooperation. We want to start to supply petroleum in a permanent way, the same as we do with the United States," Chavez said.
      Aiyar said India's strong ties with Venezuela will help Indian firms penetrate the Latin American region.
      India, which imports 70 percent of its crude needs, consumed 2.46 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2004 and is forecast to use 2.53 million bpd this year, estimates from the International Energy Agency show.
      The country is likely to import 85 percent of its needs in the next two decades as its economy grows 7-8 percent a year, encouraging Indian firms to bid for foreign oil projects.
      ONGC is competing with Chinese companies in the race for foreign petroleum assets.
      In January, China signed energy accords with Venezuela that aimed to make the largest oil consumer in Asia a major player in the oil and gas industry.
      Venezuela ships more than half its daily output to the United States in a decades-old energy relationship.
      But Chavez, a fierce critic of Washington, has made clear he wants to diversify overseas energy ties to reduce its economic dependence on the American market.
      ONGC's overseas subsidiary, ONGC Videsh, has stakes in oil and gas projects in Myanmar, Sudan, Russia, Libya and Australia and recently signed a $40 billion deal to import LNG from Iran.