India's state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp said on Saturday it has signed a deal to explore for oil and gas in the Satpayev Block in Kazakhstan. The company said ONGC Mittal Energy Ltd (OMEL) - a joint venture company between its overseas arm and Mittal Investments Sarl - had signed an initial agreement with Kazakhstan-based KazMunaiGas (KMG).
"The HOA signed today is in pursuance to the memorandum of understanding that was signed between the two sides in February, 2005, for co-operation in the oil and gas sector of Kazakhstan," the company said in a statement. The Kazakh government signed a memorandum of understanding with ONGC in 2005 for the offshore block Satpayev with estimated reserves of 1.85 billion barrels, but did not reach a firm agreement. "The two companiContract," the statement added.