India, which spent $43 billion in oil imports, has lost an estimated 23 million tonnes of oil in last nine months by denying state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation permission to acquire oilfields abroad.
The Government over the last nine months has denied ONGC permission to acquire three major properties in Nigeria and Ecuador that could have given the country 23 million tonnes, industry sources said.
India, which imports 73 per cent of its oil needs, had been encouraging oil companies to acquire oil properties abroad to achieve energy security.
The country produces 32 million tonnes of oil from domestic fields.
Sources said the government in December disallowed ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of ONGC, from investing close to $2 billion in buying 45 per cent stake in a Nigerian oil and gas field.
OVL defeated arch rivals CNOOC of China in race for South Atlantic Petroleum's stake in the Akpo oil and gas field with an estimated 1.6 billion barrels of oil reserves and yet to be determined gas reserve portfolio.
Total of France was the operator of the field, which would pump 225,000 barrels of high-value sweet oil per day from 2008. Apko went to the Chinese firm.
In September last year, the government forced OVL not to better its bid of $1.4 billion for acquiring Canadian oil firm EnCana Corp's Ecuador assets, which produced 75,000 barrels of oil per day. The deal went to a Chinese consortium for $1.42 billion, sources said.
The company had lost out on Block 321 and 323 in Nigeria after Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs failed to give its clearance in time for its $1.4-billion bid. The blocks went to Korean National Oil Corp.
Sources said the in-place reserve estimates for OPL 321 range between 5,550 to 12,950 million barrels with recoverable reserves estimated at 1,540 to 3,600 million barrels.
OPL 323 has in-place reserves 4,430 to 9,550 million barrels with recovery estimated at 1,730 to 3,950 million barrels.
OVL from its existing properties abroad would produce 6.6 million tonnes of oil this year and with the properties it lost, the output could have surpassed its parent ONGC's production of around 26 million tonnes.
OVL has comitted over 5.5 billion dollars in 13 countries, including Australia, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Libya, Myanmar, Brazil, Qatar, Russia, Sudan, Syria and Vietnam.
Sources said the company was in talks to acquire oil assets in Kazakhstan, Cuba, Myanmar, Venezuela, Brazil, Bangladesh, Kuwait, Sierra Leone, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
OVL's foreign oil and gas output would rise to 8.5-9 million tonnes by 2010.
The Sakhalin-1 field in Russia would start exporting crude from June, and that ONGC would bring oil from this operation to India in early 2007.
Sakhalin is currently producing 40,000-45,000 barrels per day, which is being locally consumed. Exports will begin in the second half of the year.
OVL holds a 20 per cent stake in Sakhalin-1.
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