OVL Looks to Exploit Serbian Shale Oil

Imperial Energy, subsidiary of India's ONGC Videsh Ltd, is looking to boost output from its asset in Tomsk region of Western Siberia by betting big on shale oil.

The Hindu Business Line reports that for this, Imperial is likely to rope in a global energy company as equity partner.

Experiencing a dip in output, the company has identified a new area in its block with Bazhenov shale formation, the newspaper said.

The Bazhenov shale formation is said to be the world’s single biggest reserve, and is expected to do for Russia what Bakken Shale did for the US.

“We have worked out a business model where a company would come with its technology for drilling and fracking. Seeing the enthusiasm of these companies (that have responded to EoI) and our technical team, we might consider offering them equity also. We hope to complete the process in another month or so,” Business Line quoted D. K. Sarraf, Managing Director and CEO, ONGC Videsh as saying.