A landmark agreement signed in February between the UAE and India expanding their bilateral energy relationship has started bearing fruit.
India’s state-owned oil exploration company, ONGC Videsh Ltd., OVL, has announced receipt of the first tranche of equity oil cargo from Abu Dhabi's Lower Zakum oilfield.
A shipload of Das blend crude oil has reached New Mangalore port, the company said in a statement.
An agreement signed in February between Dr. Sultan bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO on the UAE side and Shashi Shekhar, Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC on the Indian side, granted a 10 percent concession in the Lower Zakum field to an Indian consortium, led by OVL.
The consortium includes state-run Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat PetroResources Ltd. The agreement coincided with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UAE.
The concession commenced on March 9th and is for a period of 40 years. "This first equity cargo of 690,000 barrels was loaded onto the vessel MT Wafrah on June 2nd," the OVL statement said.
Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, which will pick up the consignment from Mangalore port is an ONGC Group company in the downstream business which operates one of India's most modern and complex refineries, according to the statement.
