'The immediate impact for India will be very minimal as the share of Venezuela in our total overseas production is very low.'
The US government, under President Trump, justifies the intervention as a security necessity rather than a resource grab. The primary official reasons include: narco-terrorism charges, national security and migration crisis.
I am inclined to believe that the Venezuela adventure is not an indication of American strength, alas, but rather of American weakness, points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
ONGC's overseas arm applied for a sanctions waiver to access $500 million dividend from two Venezuelan projects.
At about 6 am on Thursday, about 450 nautical miles off West of Mumbai, a merchant ship MV BBC Orinoco with a crew of 14 members, including five Ukrainians and nine Filipinos, reported being attacked by pirates.
Indian flagship overseas explorer ONGC Videsh Ltd and its partners have signed an agreement to develop a $20 billion oil project in Venezuela that will give energy-deficient India 3.6 million tonnes a year of crude.
The Indian firms will develop the Carabobo-1 block in Venezuela's Orinoco Belt with Spain's Repsol YPF SA and Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bdh, ONGC said.
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of the state explorer, Reliance, IOC and Oil India Ltd had in April this year come together to consider jointly bidding for a 40 per cent stake in a field in the vast Orinoco heavy crude oil belt. To make up for the loss of Reliance, OVL has opened talks with global energy firms and is even willing to take a smaller role in case a major company joins the consortium.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Reliance Industries and Indian Oil Corp, the nation's biggest companies, are coming together for the first time, to bid jointly for a vast oilfield in Venezuela, which will require an investment of $16-18 billion.
As Venezuelans continue to flee the starvation, crime and the horrific inflation that continues to mark the worst crisis it has ever faced, Radha Biswas looks back at a devastated country she continues to love deeply.
The Siang is a dramatic river that flows through a beautiful land. Rafting on it is a rare pleasure the state offers tourists, says Ajai Shukla.