ONGC in talks to buy stake in GSPC’s KG basin block

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is in talks to buy a stake in Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation’s (GSPC) Krishna Godavari basin block. GSPC is seeking to sell a majority stake in its KG-OSN-2001/3 (Deendayal) block in the Bay of Bengal to avoid defaulting on loans. ONGC was initially not keen to buy a stake in the block as it felt that the block had reserves far lower than claimed by GSPC and the asking price for the stake was not commensurate with the expected returns. Therefore, ONGC has appointed technical consultant Ryder and Scott for evaluating the field.