India opened its hydrocarbon account with Kazakhstan with ONGC Videsh Limited securing a 25% stake in a Caspian Sea exploration block under an agreement signed in Astana. The two countries also signed a nuclear understanding that expands the scope of bilateral nuclear cooperati on dramatically. Three agreements between OVL and the Kazakh gas firm, Kazmunaigas, gave the former a quarter share of Satpayev Exploration block, as well as defining the operations and carry understanding between the two.

The agreements were signed during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s state visit to the Central Asian country, consolidating its position as India's largest trading partner in the region.

Satpayev exploration block, located in the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea, covers an area of 1482 sq.km and is at a water depth of 6-8 mts. It is situated in a highly prospective region of North Caspian Sea and is in close proximity to major discoveries. The block contains two prospective structures, namely Satpayev and Satpayev Vostochni (East) with 256 MMT in estimated hydrocarbon resources.
OVL has been trying to secure a foothold in Kazakhstan since 1995. The two firms had signed a MoU in 2005, with more agreements being signed in 2009 and 2010. With the share assignment agreement, OVL has made its first definite entry into this country's hydrocarbon sector. A new bilateral agreement on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy expands the scope of potential co-operation dramatically.
The expected trade of uranium ore from Kazakhstan and nuclear reactors from India has been expanded to include nuclear medical isotopes, joint mining and reactor design and operations. This reflects Kazakhstan’s interest in moving beyond being a mere ore supplier. India is agreeable to such efforts because it has connectivity problems with Kazakhstan in any case and it would make more sense to import, say, processed uranium rather than raw ore as this could be conceivably be carried by airplane.

The medical agreement reflects the recent shortage in medical isotopes globally caused by the decline of Canada's nuclear sector, until recently the primary source of such isotopes.

Kazakhstan is important to world energy markets because it has significant oil and natural gas reserves. As per some estimates it is set to become one of the world’s top ten oil producers by 2025, and one of the top three non-OPEC contributors to production growth.Oil production in Kazakhstan has increased from 410,000 b/d in 1995 to 1.7 million b/d in 2010.Sales gas production reached 2.1 bcfd in 2010.

OVL excels with all time high production

Ovl has registered a production of 9.433 MMTOE in 2010-11, surpassing the earlier peak production of 8.870 MMTOE of oil and oil equivalent gas in 2009-10.
This records highest ever oil & gas production from the overseas assets of OVL so far and sets a milestone in its journey for the quest for oil and gas acreages abroad including acquisition of fields, exploration, development, production, transportation of oil and gas.

ONGC Videsh has the distinction of operating in the harshest environments in the world that are as diverse as deep sea production in Brazil to the extremely cold climate of Russia.

Currently, ONGC Videsh Limited has oil and gas production from 9 projects, namely, Russia (Sakhalin-I and Imperial), Syria (Al-Furat Project), Vietnam (Block 06.1), Colombia (Mansarovar Energy Project), Sudan (Greater Nile Oil Project and Block 5A), Venezuela (San Cristobal Project) and Brazil (BC-10).
From a meagre production of just 0.253 MMTOE in 2002-03, OVL has come a long way in having a significant share in ONGC Group’s oil and gas production. OVL is currently present in 32 oil and gas projects in 13 countries across the world. It is working with national oil companies of Myanmar, Sudan, Nigeria, China, Russia, Vietnam, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Brazil, Colombia, Malaysia, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela. It has partnership with international majors like Exxon-Mobil, BP, Shell, Total, Repsol etc. in its acreages abroad.