The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval to an acquisition by ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) for 11 percent stake in JSC Vankorneft from M/s Rosneft Oil Company (Rosneft), the National Oil Company (NOC) of Russian Federation (Russia). Rosneft operates Vankor fields, with Vankorneft, its wholly owned subsidiary.

OVL will be paying an amount of US $ 930 million for acquiring 11 percent stake in Vankorneft.

The acquisition of stake in Vankorneft will provide 3.2 Million Metric Ton of Oil Equivalent (MMTOE) to OVL by 2017. It will also provide an opportunity to Indian public sector oil and gas companies to acquire new technologies from Rosneft. The acquisition is in line the ONGC’s stated objective of adding high quality international assets to India's Exploration and Production (E&P) portfolio and thereby augmenting India's energy security.

Recently, an Indian consortium comprising of Oil India Limited (OIL), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and Bharat PetroResources Limited (BPRL) acquired 23.9 percent stake in Vankorneft at a cost of $2020.35 million which will give them 6.56 MMTOE. Earlier in May 2016, ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) completed the formalities on acquisition of 15 percent stake in Vankorneft at a cost of $1.284 billion which gave OVL 4.11 MMTOE