India acquires Russian oil company, says Govt

India has acquired a Russian oil company and bought equity stake in an oil field project in Venezuela through consortium route, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada said during Question Hour, "we have recently acquired a Russian oil company named Imperial Energy through ONGC Videsh. Apart from this we have acquired 18 per cent equity share in a Venezuelan field project through consortium mode." Prasada said Oil India Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation and OVL are the shareholders in the 18 per cent stake. The minister said the recent discovery of an oil reserve in Barmer by the government would help in meeting 25 per cent of the nation's current oil production. "While the Barmer oil reserve can meet 25 per cent of the country's current oil production, the KG Basin gas reserve has the capability of equalling the total gas production of the country in the coming days," Prasada said. To another query on the 'peak oil theory', the minister said various studies have given different views. "Some researchers subscribing to the theory have predicted from time to time that the world's oil production has peaked and it is likely to decline in future. However, International Energy Agency in its latest publication, World Energy Outlook 2009, projected world oil production increasing from 83.1 million barrels per day in 2008 to 86.6 million barrels per day in 2014-15 and further to 103 million barrels per day in 2030," he said. Prasada said to maintain and enhance oil reserves of the country and reduce dependence on world's oil reserves in future, the ministry has been carving out more and more areas of exploration for offer under various rounds of New Exploration Licensing Policy and the Coal Bed Methane policy. Besides, the government has been involved in construction of a strategic storage of crude oil of 5 MMT capacity at three locations - Visakhapatnam, Mangalore and Padur - for meeting unforeseen situations arising out of short term supply disruptions.