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NEW DELHI, Mar 5 (AFP): Fuel-hungry India signed a deal Saturday to take a 49 per cent stake in a Venezuelan oil field, boosting energy ties between one of Asia's biggest consuming economies and one of the world's largest exporters.
Under the agreement reached in New Delhi, Indian state-controlled energy giant Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), which is scouring the globe to meet the country's ever-expanding fuel needs, will take a 49 per cent stake in the San Cristobal oil field.
"For us to receive 49 per cent plus the operatorship is ... a huge advance and with that I am now truly well positioned to commercialise exploration work, India's Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar told reporters.
No financial details of the deal were available.
The signing of the agreement came on the second day of a four-day visit by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to India.
As part of the agreement, one of six signed in New Delhi, PDVSA or Petroleos de Venezuela is taking a stake in ONGC's refining subsidiary, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd.
The agreement between Venezuela, the world's fifth biggest oil exporter, and India, which imports 70 per cent of its crude oil needs, will pave the way for the Mangalore refinery to process Venezuelan crude.
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