November 14, 2002	Thursday	Ramazan 8, 1423

NEW DELHI, Nov 13: India’s state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) will this year invest more than one billion dollars in the acquisition of oil stakes abroad, the company said Wednesday.

We estimate investments in acquisition of oil equity, through our fully owned subsidiary ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), in Sudan, Libya, Iran and US would be of the order of $1.25 billion this year, the Press Trust of India quoted chairman and managing director Subir Raha as saying.

The purchases include a 25 percent stake in the Greater Nile Oil Project in Sudan for $758 million and a 10 per cent stake in an offshore gas exploration block in Louisiana in the United States.

OVL in conjunction with Indian Oil and Oil India Ltd will invest $30 million in the Farsi offshore oil and gas field in Iran, he added.—AFP