New Delhi, Oct 4: In a first purchase of shale gas assets abroad, two State-owned oil companies — Oil India Ltd. (OIL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) — today announced jointly buying 30 per cent stake in Houston-based Carrizo Oil and Gas's Niobrara shale oil and gas assets in Colorado for $82.5 million (about Rs.428 crore).
Both companies will make an upfront payment of $41.25 million to Carrizo and pay a similar amount for future drilling costs on behalf of the U.S. firm, OIL Director (Finance) T. K. Ananth Kumar said.
OIL will acquire 20 per cent and IOC will get 10 per cent in the Denver-Julesburg basin in Colorado, which produces both natural gas and liquids.
Carrizo, which holds 61,500 gross acres in the Niobrara basin, currently produces 1,850 barrels of oil-equivalent per day, of which 30 per cent would now accrue to OIL-IOC combine.
“Our share of peak production, which is estimated to be reached in 3-4 years, will be 3,700 barrels of oil-equivalent a day,” Nripendra Kumar Bharali, Director (Human Resources and Business Development) at OIL said.
The joint venture would spend $230 million over the next 3-4 years on the shale property.
