RusEnergy

14 February 2008 - Upstream OnLine - Russia's Rosneft may buy a stake in a liquefied natural gas processing plant planned by Indian state energy outfit Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for the southern city of Mangalore, Sergei Mikhailov, head of energy policy at Russia's Industry & Energy Ministry, said. India may also also consider investing in 12 upcoming oil and gas projects in Siberia and the Far East, Mikhailov said in New Delhi, where he was accompanying Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov on a visit. "India has investments in Sakhalin 1. That is not sufficient to meet the country's rising energy demand," Reuters quoted Mikhailov as saying. "More opportunities to participate in oil exploration in Siberia and the Far East are coming up ... Such participation is quite realistic,” he said yesterday. Mikhailov said the government was considering the issue and would make a decision soon. The overseas investment arm of India's state-run ONGC, ONGC Videsh, owns 20% of the Sakhalin 1 oilfield, operated by US major ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil and its partners, Rosneft, Japan's Itochu and Marubeni and ONGC, have invested more than $12 billion in the Sakhalin 1 project. ONGC is also looking at participating in the development of the Sakhalin 3 project, a request raised by India during President Vladimir Putin's visit to the country in January last year.