Russia seeks Indian oil capital

Russia is interested in attracting Indian capital into the Sakhalin-3 oil project off its far eastern coast, the Russian defense minister was quoted as saying Monday by news agencies.

The east Siberian field of Vankor is another project in which Russia may seek Indian involvement, said Sergei Ivanov, who is also a deputy prime minister.

Both of the projects named by Ivanov are led by state-controlled OAO Rosneft, which, along with gas monopoly OAO Gazprom, has all but formalized control of all significant new energy projects in Russia.
Sakhalin-3, one of a number of offshore blocks off the coast of the far east island, and Vankor are both geographically remote projects in the early stages of development, and likely to need billions of dollars in investments.

India, whose energy demand has surged in recent years, is already a shareholder via the state-run ONGC Videsh Ltd. in the Sakhalin-1 oilfields which have started production.

Some suspect that ONGC Videsh Ltd. — the overseas arm of India’s national champion Oil & Natural Gas Corp. — may have supported Rosneft’s IPO last year as a strategic investor. The companies haven’t confirmed this, however.

Business Week