No pre-condition for Cairn-Vedanta deal: ONGC

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation said on Thursday it has not put any pre-condition for approving Cairn Energy Plc selling stake in Indian unit to Vedanta Resources.

"We have not put any pre-condition . . . No two issues have been attached to this," ONGC Chairman R S Sharma told reporters in New Delhi, when asked if the company will make the royalty issue a pre-condition for waiving its pre-emption rights in the Cairn-Vedanta deal.

ONGC, which is 30 per cent partner in Cairn India- operated Rajasthan oilfields, is obliged to pay royalty on entire crude oil produce from the blocks, even though its share is just 30

"These issues are not related," Sharma said, referring to royalty payment and the pre-emption right.

Sharma said the company paid Rs 319 crore (Rs 3.19-billion) royalty in excess of its share of crude oil produce during July-September quarter.

The royalty-liability makes the Rajasthan project a losing preposition for ONGC.