OVL to invest $450M in Venezuela oil field

NEW DELHI, April 7 (UPI) -- India's ONGC Videsh Ltd. plans to invest $450 million in Venezuelan oil fields, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry said Monday.

OVL, the overseas arm of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp., will next week sign an agreement with Venezuela's PDVSA, the ministry said.

Murli Deora, the minister for petroleum and natural gas, and other officials left for Venezuela Sunday to sign the agreement, a ministry spokesman said.

"OVL had picked up a 40 percent stake in an oil field in Venezuela. The field in San Cristobal has an oil reserve of around 250 million tons," he said.

Petroleum Secretary M.S. Srinivasan said San Cristobal was a good opportunity to enter the Venezuelan exploration and production sector.

"We expect to start commercial production from that field in three years' time," Srinivasan said.