India Oil cos $125.5m dividend from oil assets stranded in Russia

NEW DELHI, May 27 (Reuters) – Indian companies with stakes in two Russian assets are unable to repatriate 8 billion rubles ($125.49 million) in dividends due to tough Western sanctions, officials said on Friday. an official of Oil India Ltd (OILI.NS). .

A consortium comprising Oil India, Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS) and Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL.NS) owns 23.9% of the Russian Vankorneft oil project and 29.9% of the Tass-Yuryakh oil field in eastern Siberia.

A dividend is paid quarterly for the Tass-Yuryakh fields and semi-annually for the Vankor fields.

“Our dividend is in Russian banks and we can’t get it due to speedy clearance issues and other issues,” Harish Madhav, chief financial officer at Oil India, told a news conference. to announce the company’s quarterly results.

European countries and the United States have imposed heavy sanctions on Russia since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine on Feb. 24, but India has not explicitly condemned the action.

Net profit at state-owned Oil India in the March quarter jumped 92.32% to 16.30 billion rupees ($210.20 million) as crude prices rose.

Oil India chairman SC Mishra said the federal government was “looking into” the exit of companies from Russia and that a consortium of Indian companies may consider buying stakes in those assets. “So far, there is no aggressive approach from our side,” he added.

Reuters reported last month that India had asked state energy companies to assess the possibility of buying Russian oil and gas assets shunned by BP (BP.L) and Exxon Mobile Corp (XOM.N) in Russia. Read more

Shell (SHEL.L) is also in talks with Indian companies to sell its stake in a major liquefied natural gas plant in Russia, sources told Reuters. Read more

India’s biggest gas transmitter GAIL (India) Ltd (GAIL.NS) is ready to buy troubled Russian oil and gas assets if the deal makes commercial sense, its chairman said earlier on Friday. Read more

($1 = 63.7500 rubles)

($1 = 77.5460 Indian rupees)

Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Richard Chang

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