Oil India plans to buy up to $200mn in US, Australia shale gas assets
By RAKESH SHARMA
State-run Oil India plans to buy shale gas assets worth up to $200 million and is scouting for potential acquisitions in the US and Australia as it seeks to gain expertise in the field ahead of India's plans to auction blocks in the country, a senior executive said Monday.
"Shale gas is going to be the future of unconventional oil exploration and development," Director Finance T.K. Ananth Kumar told Dow Jones Newswires.
"We prefer to go in for a joint venture partnership rather than fully owning the asset,” Kumar continued. “This is our strategy for acquisition of shale gas."
The US shale gas boom has transformed the gas market and made the country a net exporter.
India is seeking to tap into its shale gas resources to meet rising gas demand from power plants and factories.
Oil Minister Jaipal Reddy said in October that the government will reveal its policy on shale gas block auctions in 2012.
The South Asian nation expects to launch its auction of blocks by the end of 2013.
Oil India joins other Indian companies - such as Reliance Industries and GAIL (India) Ltd. which have already acquired acreage in the US - to get technology for exploiting the natural resource and secure fuel supplies.
Oil India Director Finance Kumar said his company is reviewing two, three assets, but he didn't give any details.
The Mint newspaper Monday cited Oil India chairman N.M. Borah as saying that the company is in talks with a US-listed firm to buy a 25% stake for some $200 million in acreage in Texas.
Dow Jones Newswires
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