ONGC plans to buy out a 10 per cent stake held by Cairn India in its discovered deepwater block in the Krishna-Godavari Basin.
The balance 90 per cent stake in KG-DWN-98/2 oil and gas block in the East Coast is held by ONGC. The Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC, Mr Sudhir Vasudeva, said here on Wednesday that the company's board had already agreed to it in the last meeting.
ONGC, which is the operator of the block, is willing to pay Cairn the cost basis of its investment. Estimates put the number at about $47 million for Cairn's stake.
According to sources, Cairn had earlier written to ONGC stating that it was not confident about the development plan which quantified the in-place reserves.
Recently, ONGC has written to 13 international companies, mainly from the US and Australia, for a proposed partnership in 19 oil and gas acreages, including the East Coast ultra-deepwater discovery. ONGC hopes to complete the process by the second quarter of the next fiscal.
Of the 19 blocks on offer for participating interest, three are already discovered. The blocks are spread across the Krishna-Godavari Basin, the Cauvery-Palar Basin, the Mahanadi Basin, and the Andamans.