ONGC Videsh, a wholly-owned subsidiary of India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), is reconsidering buying a stake in Tullow Oil’s assets in Kenya, reported Bloomberg.
An ONGC executive told the publication that the company needs more clarity on the oil blocks in South Lokichar Basin onshore Kenya.
In May this year, TotalEnergies and Africa Oil exited the project due to “differing internal strategic reasons”, leaving Tullow as the sole owner of the assets.
ONGC and Oil India were already in talks with Tullow for a stake before TotalEnergies and Africa Oil each decided to give up their 25% stake in the oil field.
Tullow found crude oil in Kenya in 2012 but has yet to onboard key partners who could provide funding for the project.
A plan for developing the resources is also yet to be approved by the Kenyan government.
Without mentioning any specific enterprises, Tullow said there are still prospective strategic partners for the Kenya project.
“The prospective partners remain engaged and detailed farm-out discussions continue with a number of companies,” Tullow said in an email.
A representative for Oil India stated that the company is "still evaluating" investing in the Kenya project.
The oil field, which is scheduled to start production in 2026, is anticipated to produce 120,000 barrels of crude oil per day at its peak and 309.52 million barrels of oil equivalent throughout its lifetime.
