OVL Keen on Partnership With Cairn India in Lanka

ONGC Videsh (OVL), overseas arm of ONGC, is keen to partner Cairn India in Sri Lanka and has held initial talks with the firm in this regard. Cairn India became the first company to discover oil and gas in Sri Lanka.

"A final decision about how much OVL wants to invest or what kind of stake-holding it wants is yet to be taken but what is clear is that OVL is keen to pursue a long-term partnership with Cairn in Sri lanka," said a senior industry source, Economic Times reported.

Cairn Lanka, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cairn India, is the biggest private exploration and production company operating in Sri Lanka with an acreage of more than 3,000 km in the frontier Mannar basin. It currently holds 100% interest in the Block SL 2007-01-001 in the Mannar Basin. The company has had two successive gas and condensate discoveries.

The newspaper quoted analysts as saying that Sri Lanka was logical choice for ONGC because of its proximity to India and also due Cairn India is already active in the area.