Indian energy company Videocon Industries Ltd. will spend 8 billion rupees ($183 million) in overseas exploration and production activities over the next two years, Chairman Venugopal Dhoot said on Friday.
Videocon was in talks to invest in oil fields in Sudan, and was also considering Ukraine -- both rich in energy resources.
The company will also spend around 12 billion rupees in exploration and production in India, Dhoot told Reuters, after it raises 20 billion rupees in global depositary receipts, a fund-raising due to be promoted next month.
Videocon signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Khartoum province in Sudan last month for investing and developing oil projects there.
Dhoot said the company planned to take a stake of up to 76 percent in an offshore Sudanese field located in the Red Sea, which it will explore along with a consortium of global partners.
“I have visited Sudan and am impressed with the efforts the Sudanese government is making to attract foreign technology and capital for the energy sector,” he said.
The company will visit Ukraine next week to explore its investment potential, he added, and it might consider investing in Russia and other countries in the Middle East and Africa.
Videocon, which has been in the energy industry for 12 years, plans to step up investment, given the demand for oil. Dhoot estimates Indian oil demand will grow 12 percent this year.
The company plans to bid for 20 blocks offered by the government under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP).
“Prices of oil have shot up and profitability is very high,” Dhoot said. “We are applying very strongly in the NELP, which we plan to develop with a consortium of partners.”
The Videocon group, which also makes TVs and home appliances, already owns 25 percent of the Raava oil field, located in the Krishna-Godavari basin off India’s eastern shore, which produces 50,000 barrels of oil a day that is sold to Indian oil companies.
Energy-hungry India, which imports 70 percent of its oil and barely produces the gas it consumes, has been encouraging companies to chase up energy ventures. State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd., India’s largest oil producer, is already active in Sudan with equity stakes in some projects.
