ONGC Videsh Ltd will provide $318 million financing to help raise output at a Venezuelan oilfield after the nation signed a pact to supply 17,000 barrels per day of crude oil to India to clear past dues.

ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), wants $537 million worth of crude oil in lieu of cash due for its share of sales from Venezuelan oilfield. OVL owns 40 per cent of the San Cristobal field and invested $190 million in 2008.

ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), is seeking $537 million worth of crude oil in lieu of cash due for its share of sales from a Venezuelan oilfield. OVL owns 40 per cent of the San Cristobal field and had invested about $190 million in the project in 2008.

India has discussed ways to recover over $600 million of past dues from Venezuela including recouping it from payments for oil it imports from the Latin American nation. ONGC Videsh Ltd owns 40 per cent of the San Cristobal oilfield but has not been paid for its share of oil sales for the last couple of years.

To buy 11 per cent stake in an oil project in Venezuela, ONGC Videsh, the overseas arm of State-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), and its partners OIL and IOC are planning. Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Malaysia's State-run oil company, has decided to withdraw from the Carabobo-I project following dispute over terms with Venezuela's state explorer Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PdVSA).