On energy prowl, India to dig into Kazakh oil treasure

The pacts are likely to be signed during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Friday-Saturday trip to the energy-rich Central Asian nation - which will be the first from a foreign state head after Nursultan Nazabayev was re-elected as the Kazakhstan president in a controversial snap poll.

India's ONGC Videsh Ltd  (OVL) will purchase the stake in the oil field and the negotiations have been nearly concluded, an official said.

This would secure Indian energy sources for meeting the high demand of fossil fuel, the official told IANS.

With an eye on energy and trade, the two strategic partners are expected to sign at least six agreements, including the one on their civil nuclear cooperation, during the hurried up visit of the prime minister.

They will ink an inter-governmental framework pact on non-military atomic cooperation. This will be part of the India and Kazakhstan civil nuclear deal for which Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Kazakh atomic company KazAtomProm signed an MoU during the 2009 visit of Nazarbaev to Delhi.

Under the contract, KazAtomProm supplies uranium for Indian reactors. The inter-governmental agreement will widen the cooperation. This will cover aspects like research, technology transfer and exploration of uranium in Kazakhstan, known to have one of the richest reserves of the nuclear fuel.

Knowledgeable sources said construction of small and medium capacity nuclear plants might also be part of the agreement for which negotiations have nearly been concluded after nearly two years of hectic deliberations and diplomatic efforts.

India has signed such civil nuclear agreements with a number of countries including the US, France, Russia, Canada, Argentina and Mongolia.

Manmohan Singh travelled to Astana from China's Sanya resort as part of his two-nation visit during which he attended BRICS summit and also held bilateral talks with presidents Hu Jintao of China, Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Dilma Rousseff of Brazil and Jacob Zuma of South Africa.