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January 17, 2007 14:09 IST
Yemen has invited Oil and Natural Gas Corp to build a 100,000 barrels per day refinery on its Arabian sea coast but the Indian state-run firm has conditioned participation in the $1-billion project on being allotted an oilfield in return.
"We have plans to build 100,000 barrels per day refineries at Hardamout and southeastern region of Al-Mukalla. We have invited ONGC to participate in one of them," Yemen Oil Minister Khalid Mahfoudh Bahah said.
The projects will typically involve an investment of $1 billion each and can be wholly-owned by foreign companies.
"They will have the freedom to sell products in local market as well as export," he said. The projects discussions with prospective investors will be concluded by 2008 and construction will take another 3 years.
"ONGC has said they will think of participation in the refinery projects when they are given an oil block in Yemen," the minister said.
Yemen, he said, was not considering allocating an oil block to ONGC on nomination basis. "We want to do away with such a dispensation. We want to put all on an equal footing. They will be invited to participate in the fourth round of offering of exploration blocks in second half of 2007," he said.
Five to ten offshore exploration blocks will be available for competitive international bidding. This will be Yemen's maiden tender for offshore exploration block. Bahah said Yemen also plans to set up a petrochemical complex based on gas reserves in the Gulf nation.
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