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BPCL plans Rs 6,000-cr E&P play 21-Dec-2006



PSU refining and marketing major BPCL plans to invest Rs 6,000 crore in the exploration and production business to transform itself into a fully integrated oil company.

The oil major already has assets in high-potential East Timor, Australia and Oman in the Gulf regions, besides three assets in the Krishna-Godavari basin and will use these as the platform, on which to build up its E&P play.

Underscoring its intentions to become a major E&P player, BPCL has set up a separate company, Bharat Petroresources, with an authorised capital of Rs 1,000 crore. “This separate company will bring in sharp focus to this business and from the financial point of view and also limit our financial exposure to Rs 1,000 crore, so as to avoid overexposure,” a top company official said.

“We have already committed Rs 600 crore and will make further commitments of Rs 4,000-5,000-crore in the next four-five years,” BPCL’s chairman Ashok Sinha said.

While there would be no timeframe fixed for BPCL to become a fully integrated oil company, “We have already initiated steps in this direction with exploration work in progress in all blocks awarded under NELP-IV,” he said.

Source: Capital Market


1,000 crores
10,000,000,000.00 INR India Rupees = 113,440,840.17 GBP United Kingdom Pounds