00:00 We have with us Mr. Rajesh Gupta, the MD and CEO of ONGC Videsh Limited to talk to us about
00:06 their latest Navratan status that the company has got and also about their strategies, plans,
00:12 exploration activities that they are looking at in future.
00:16 So welcome to NDTV Profit Mr. Rajesh Gupta.
00:19 Sir can you take us our audience like especially now that you have been given this Navratan
00:24 status, so how your overall role, responsibilities and strategies would change?
00:30 So we are thankful to the government for upgrading us to the Navratna status.
00:35 As you are aware that we are the leading international oil and gas company of India and we are with
00:42 the Navratna status it gives us more power to the board, it gives us more authority and
00:46 autonomy and with this renewed status of creation with India importing about 87-88% of oil and
00:53 gas crude, it is now on to us to do more for the country and get more equity oil and gas
00:59 to India.
01:00 Okay, so now that you spoke about India's overall requirement also, so what kind of
01:06 activities, exploration activities you are looking at, going ahead given the kind of
01:10 demand or the growth that India is looking at?
01:13 India also wants to be secure as far as energy is concerned.
01:16 ONGC Videsh is in 18 countries, in 15 countries we have our projects and in 3 business centers
01:23 like Houston, Amsterdam and Singapore we have our offices.
01:27 We have 32 projects all over the world, out of these 32 projects 14 are producing and
01:32 our main production comes from Colombia, Brazil, Abu Dhabi, Myanmar, Vietnam, Russia, Azerbaijan
01:40 to name a few and South Sudan and what we are focusing on now is for further acquisitions
01:47 with focus on Africa, Latin America, Middle East all of them.
01:52 We would like to do big ticket acquisitions and get more equity oil to India.
01:56 We have big plans, we have, most of the NOCs, IOCs are our partners, so we are in discussion
02:02 with them to partner more for anywhere where we can be operators or joint operators with
02:08 them and get equity oil to India.
02:11 So of the total, these exploration blocks or the existing producing blocks that you
02:15 spoke about, what is OVL's total production as of now and how much it will go up say in
02:21 the next 5 years?
02:22 We are at about 11 million ton of oil and oil equivalent, so we are the second largest
02:28 producer in the country after ONGC.
02:30 ONGC produces about 44 million ton, we produce about 11 and we want to go up to at least
02:37 20 million ton in the short term and 40 million ton by 2040, our tagline is 40 by 40.
02:43 So we have two big projects coming up, we have a two train LNG project in Mozambique
02:48 which is 13.12 million ton, we have got about 16% in that, so we will get some production
02:54 from there.
02:55 We have a BMC4 in offshore Brazil which is also coming up for development and we are
03:00 doing very well in Colombia where we have an operated project with only 75 people on
03:05 the ground, we are producing about 1.3 million ton of oil and we are also looking at South
03:09 Sudan where we are producing about 57 million tons, 57,000 barrels of oil per day.
03:15 So things are looking good, in this with the now brand India with us, behind us and the
03:22 Government of India support, we strongly believe that we can do further acquisitions and get
03:26 more equity oil to India.
03:28 So earlier there was a big problem as far as bidding was concerned, where most of the
03:33 major projects were taken away by Chinese players, so how much has things changed in
03:38 the last one decade after this new regime has come up and there has been lot of focus
03:43 on energy security?
03:47 We compete, collaborate and cooperate with all partners, we have lost a few to the Chinese
03:55 and we have won a few from the Chinese, it's a part of the game, but going forward we are
04:00 looking at other international oil companies and majors to partner with us.
04:04 Today brand India is at its highest, so I can basically open any door and talk to any
04:09 CEO in the world and they understand that when we come from as a national oil company
04:15 of India and international ANP, we mean business, we deliver and we execute, we are nimble footed,
04:22 we are lean mean thin and we can turn around quickly.
04:25 So we are a trusted partner and a partner who is there for good, for long, not a fly
04:30 by night operator.
04:33 Because of this geopolitical scenario that exists right now, on the one hand there is
04:37 the Russia-Ukraine war, then now there is Israel-Hamas, so the production that we are
04:42 doing in Russia, what are we doing, how we are utilizing that fuel there, are we bringing
04:47 it to India or we are just passing on the dividend from there to India?
04:52 Russian production is normal and we have got three projects, in all three projects Russian
04:57 production is normal.
04:58 The oil which comes out of these projects is marketed by the oil marketing companies,
05:04 they source the oil from Russia, it's not our job, we are only there in the upstream,
05:09 but as of now the production is back to normal and we are doing good in all three countries.
05:15 But the oil that you produce, is that coming to India or is it like sold to…
05:19 Russian oil is coming to India, Russia is now our biggest supplier of oil, we import
05:24 maximum from Russia but not by OVL, OVL is on the other side, so oil marketing companies
05:29 import oil.
05:32 And recently we got to know that because of this change in the, because of this overall
05:39 change in, what do you call it, global perception and also losing of the sanctions by Russia
05:46 on Venezuela, how have things changed there and how we are planning to get our dividends
05:50 back?
05:51 Venezuela, we are there for last 15-16 years, we have got two projects, both the projects
05:58 are again producing and the present scenario is, we believe offers us a good window to
06:07 establish ourselves as an operator there, get control on the production there and get
06:12 evacuation rights and the oil back to India.
06:15 We have got some dividend which is stuck, which we could not bring it because of the
06:20 banking channels and other issues.
06:22 We are in discussion at the highest level of the Venezuelan government, we are negotiating
06:26 agreements which we believe will result not only in squaring off of these dividends but
06:31 also give us more rights in operations to increase production.
06:35 How much is the dividend that is pending there?
06:38 As of now it's about 500 million.
06:41 And the entire amount you are looking to get through?
06:43 Yes, in stages, in stages, we will recuperate part of it back in the business in capex,
06:49 opex and get it, some of the production out, as part of the production we will get our
06:53 debt set off.
06:56 Thank you very much sir for talking to NDTV profit.
06:58 You are welcome.
06:59 Thank you.
06:59 Thank you.
07:01 (dramatic music)
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