Nigeria has agreed in-principle to
lease two proven oil fields to Indian Oil Corporation in exchange for setting up
a 6 million tpa refinery project in Edo state. The project has been under
discussion since 2004.
IOC might have to shell out nearly $2
billion to acquire a substantial stake in the two oil fields offered by Edo
state. These fields are estimated to produce 2 lakh bpd of oil, with reserves of
1,000 billion barrels over the 15-20 year life of the two wells. It is learnt
that the revenue accruing from the sale of crude from the two fields will be
used to set up the refinery.
IOC's investment in the West African
country may go up substantially with Nigeria considering the offer of an
additional oil field to the Indian oil major if it invested in an LNG project.
Also See:
IOC,
OIL pick up stake in Nigeria, Gabon blocks (25-Dec-06)