"Some contractual problems need to be sorted out before the Kazakhstan oil asset acquired by L.N. Mittal's group company is transferred to the Mittal-OVL joint venture, ONGC Mittal Energy Ltd., an official from state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. said.

He said the joint-venture partners were working hard to find a structure for the smooth transfer of the asset without infringing the laws of Kazakhstan or the contract. The Mittal Group acquired Lukoil's 50 percent stake.

Lukoil used Caspian Investments to buy Kazakh oil producer Nelson Resources Ltd. for $2 billion in 2005. L.N. Mittal said plans were in progress to transfer the Kazakh oil asset to OMEL.

Mittal Group and ONGC agreed to participate through the joint venture company in Angola, Azerbaijan, Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Romania, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, The Business Line newspaper reported Wednesday.