Venezuela may build oil refinery in India

India is considering oil-rich Venezuela’s offer to set up a refinery in the country, an Indian official said today.

“There are several issues to be looked into in this regard,” DowJones Newswires quoted R. S. Sharma, chairman of state-run Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, as saying on the sidelines an international oil conference. He didn’t give details.

ONGC is India’s largest oil and gas producer.

The Economic Times daily reported today that Venezuela’s state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, was looking at the possibility of setting up a refinery in India and establishing a petroleum retailing venture.

The daily said the proposed refinery would process the Venezuelan crude from the San Cristobal block, where India’s ONGC Videsh, an arm of ONGC, has been offered a 30% stake.

The block has the potential to produce 900,000 to 1 million barrels of oil daily, it said.

“In India, we are evaluating the options of setting up a refinery, where ONGC’s crude from Venezuela may be processed ... However, the final decision would rest on the government-to-government negotiations,” the daily quoted Luis F Vierna, the company’s vice president for exploration and production, as saying.