" I think we must keep in mind the bigger picture of assets that...

" I think we must keep in mind the bigger picture of assets that may wish to be be taken out later by a bigger entity,regards
Nicky6"

Nicky6.... perhaps this big?

India Turns to Angola After Losing in Energy Auctions (Update1)
By Manash Goswami


March 31 (Bloomberg) -- India, Asia's third-largest consumer of oil, will focus on obtaining energy assets in Angola after failing to secure supplies closer to home.
``Angola is the next country where we are going to concentrate,'' Indian Oil Minister Murli Deora said in an interview in New Delhi. ``We lost because our bid wasn't good enough'' in previous auctions, he said. ``We have learned from this,'' the minister said.
State-run explorers from India and China have submitted bids for oil blocks in Angola as the world's two most populous nations need imports to sustain economic growth. India's oil shortage has spurred Deora to turn to Angola, OPEC's fastest- growing member with reserves equivalent to 11 years of India's imports, after losing out to China in $10 billion of auctions.
India's energy independence has been threatened because it hasn't been able to increase production at home, where output from three-decade-old fields is declining. India will also compete for oil in Nigeria, Africa's biggest producer, and Sudan.
``India has to acquire assets overseas. There is no other way,'' said Prashant Periwal, an analyst at B&K Securities in London. ``China has slowly and steadily spread across most of Africa and is sitting on huge resources. For fuel security, you have to take control of supplies.''
India, China
India has been beaten by China to auctions for energy assets in Kazakhstan and Myanmar in the past three years. India has offered to build ports and railways in Nigeria and Sudan, copying tactics used by China.
The South Asian nation hosted a two-day India-Africa conference in November to discuss oil cooperation, where Deora offered to build refineries and pipelines.
India sought stakes of as much as 32 percent in two fields in Sudan, R.S. Butola, managing director of ONGC Videsh, said during the November conference in New Delhi. Petroliam Nasional Bhd., Malaysia's state oil company, and Total SA, Europe's third- largest oil company, control the areas, he said.
India, the fastest-growing economy after China, estimates demand for oil will rise 62 percent over the next five years to 241 million tons a year, or 4.8 million barrels a day.
Venezuela Agreement
Deora will travel to Venezuela next month to complete an agreement to acquire a stake in fields in the biggest crude- exporting nation in the Americas.
ONGC Videsh Ltd., the overseas exploration unit of Oil & Natural Gas Corp., India's biggest producer, will invest up to $356 million in a venture with state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA, to operate the San Cristobal area.
ONGC Videsh and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia's largest refiner, are among 43 companies that will bid to explore for oil in Angola, according to state-run Sonangol SA. The African nation is offering 11 licenses for fields with a potential of 9.6 billion barrels of oil reserves, Sonangol said on its Web site.
The bidding has been delayed after Angola extended the deadline indefinitely. The offers originally had to be submitted by March 13, according to Sonangol.
The auction will take place after elections in September, Diario Economico reported on March 19, without saying where it got the information.
Angola, which became a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries last year, was set a daily production target of 1.9 million barrels at the group's meeting in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 5. Angolan output increased 18 percent last year to 1.61 million barrels a day, according to the International Energy Agency.
Oil Prices
Crude oil futures have risen 59 percent from a year ago on concern of supply disruptions from major producers, including Nigeria and Iraq. Crude oil for May delivery fell as much as $1.28, or 1.2 percent, to $104.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $105 a barrel at 12:21 p.m. in Singapore.
The South Asian nation expects a decision from the Russian authorities on another stake in an exploration area in Sakhalin Island ``soon,'' Deora said. ONGC Videsh is keen on acquiring a stake in the Sakhalin-3 area, R.S. Sharma, chairman of the parent company, said on Oct. 12.
Oil & Natural Gas owns a 20 percent stake in Sakhalin-1. U.S.'s Exxon Mobil Corp. owns 30 percent of the venture, which began pumping oil in 2005. SODECO of Japan owns 30 percent and OAO Rosneft has 20 percent.
India plans to resume talks with Pakistan over a $7.4 billion pipeline to transport natural gas from Iran after more than a decade of delays, Deora said.
Asia's third-largest economy can produce only half the gas it needs to generate electricity, causing blackouts and curbing economic growth. Demand may more than double to 400 million cubic meters a day by 2025 if the economy grows at the projected rate of 7 to 8 percent a year, according to the Oil Ministry.
To contact the reporter on this story: Manash Goswami in New Delhi at [email protected].
Last Updated: March 31, 2008 01:10 EDT