Moscow
28 December 2005
Welcoming the recognition in India and China that they
might have more to gain from cooperation than competition in the energy
field, Russia has suggested that they bid together for the oil and gas
fields in East Siberia.
"India can play a big role as there will be vast possibilities in the next two
to three years," Mr Igor V Scheulov, deputy director of foreign economic
relations division of the Russian ministry of industry and energy told this
newspaper.
After West Siberia, which has been contracted to the West, it will be the
turn of East Siberia to be up for grabs in 2006-07. Mr Scheulov said bids
will be invited from interested parties for 40 big and small oil fields.
"A new law on subsoil is past the first reading in Parliament. It will be
passed in two to three months," he said about a legislation that will allow
foreign companies to participate in the exploration and development of oil
and gas projects.
Incidentally, China and India have chosen Syria's dwindling oil market as
a testing ground for cooperation. The Oil and Natural Gas Commission
(ONGC) and the China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) are planning to bid
for Petro-Canada's 38 per cent stake in the Al Furat oil and gas venture in
Syria.
Accoding to Stratfor, a United States-based think tank, "New Delhi's quest
for energy security is compounded by its intense energy rivalry with
Beijing. A latecomer to the energy battle, India consistently has lost to
China in bidding wars over oil and gas fields. China simply has more
cash, expertise and control over state firms to secure resources in the
race for energy supplies."
India's latest defeat came on August 22 when ONGC's 3.6 billion-dollar
offer for PetroKazakhstan's reserves in Central Asia was overshadowed
by CNPC's 4.2 billion-dollar bid.
If ONGC had gone ahead with its proposal to acquire a 45 per cent state in
a Nigerian oil and gas field, for the first time an Indian firm would have
defeated the Chinese in securing a field with an estimated capacity of 1.6
billion barrels of oil reserves.
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