ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), is likely to bid over US$ 300 million to buy Caspian Energy Group LLP’s interest in a Azerbaijan oil field.

Code-named Project Golden Goose, OVL is bidding to buy CEG’s 51 per cent stake in Shivran Oil Operating Company that operates that Kyurovdag oil field in Azerbaijan, company sources said.

The remaining 49 per cent stake in Shivran Oil Operating Company is held by State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR). Caspian Energy Group (CEG) will mark OVL’s entry into the energy-rich Central Asian nation of Azerbaijan.

OVL currently has assets in 14 countries including Myanmar, Vietnam, Russia, Egypt, Sudan and Australia but none in Central Asia.

Sources said the Kyurovdag onshore oil field was discovered and first developed by USSR in 1955 and Shirvan is operating it since June 1996.

The field is believed to hold an in-place oil reserves of 4.3 billion barrels of which 800 million barrels are recoverable.

The field, which is currently producing 4,517 barrels of oil per day, is estimated to produce a minimum of 146 million barrels during 2007 and 2030, 51 per cent of which will belong to OVL upon it winning the CEG bid.
The production is projected to rise to 13,300 barrels per day in 2010 and thereafter start declining to reach 2,200 barrels per day in 2030, they said. The field is well past its historical peak of 43,000 barrels per day of 1965.