(PTI)
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), has got a two-year extension to explore a Vietnamese oil block in the contested waters of the South China Sea. This is the fifth extension for OVL to explore Block-128, the licence for which is now valid till June 15, 2019, sources said on condition of anonymity as the information is not public yet.
While India wants to maintain its strategic interest in the South China Sea, Vietnam wants an Indian firm to counter China’s interventions in the contested waters. Sources said OVL had in May applied to the Vietnamese authorities for a fifth extension of the exploration licence for the deepsea block. Vietnam’s national oil company PetroVietnam last week granted the extension, they said.
