OVL looking at Caspian Sea oilfields

ONGC Videsh Ltd, the foreign arm of ONGC, is eyeing oil fields in the Caspian Sea, Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Tuesday. "To enhance energy security of the country, OVL is pursuing acquisition of equity oil as well as oil and gas exploration acreages and producing properties in several identified countries, including those in the Caspian Sea area," he said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha here. OVL's proposal to invest in oil fields in Caspian Sea area was at an initial stage of consideration, he said without giving details. Public sector oil companies – OVL, Indian Oil, Oil India and Gail – have participating interest in oil and gas projects in Vietnam, Sudan, Russia, Iraq, Iran, Myanmar, Libya, Syria, Australia and Ivory Coast.