Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd.

State run Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has recorded sale of 620,000 barrels of Nile Blend crude for January loading at a record premium after a disagreement between the Sudanese governments over pipeline transit fees reduced supplies.

The company has sold the cargo to load on January 16-31 to European trader Arcadia at a premium of $3 a barrel to the Minas Indonesia Crude Price (ICP). Sturdy demand for direct-burning crude from Japanese utilities also underpinned Nile Blend's price.

Recently, ONGC has written to 13 international companies, mainly from the US and Australia, for a proposed partnership in 19 oil and gas acreages, including the East Coast ultra-deepwater discovery. ONGC expects to complete the process by the second quarter of the next fiscal.