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India Energy Firms’ $400 Million Stuck In Russia, Official Says

State-run companies such as ONGC Videsh Ltd have stakes in Russian oil and gas fields.

A company handout photograph shows an offshore platform in the Lan Tay field in Vietnam, owned partly by BP Plc, ONGC Videsh Ltd. and Vietnamese government-owned Petro-Vietnam, made available to the media June 9, 2009.
A company handout photograph shows an offshore platform in the Lan Tay field in Vietnam, owned partly by BP Plc, ONGC Videsh Ltd. and Vietnamese government-owned Petro-Vietnam, made available to the media June 9, 2009.

India’s energy companies are unable to reap dividends worth as much as $400 million from their assets in Russia, a senior oil ministry official said Saturday.

State-run companies such as ONGC Videsh Ltd have stakes in Russian oil and gas fields. But dividends from those assets are stuck because of a logjam in Russia’s banking channels and the country’s inability to pay in dollars amid US and EU sanctions.

Separately, India has also faced challenges in buying Russian crude above the price cap. India will find ways to pay, though, said the official, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

ONGC Videsh’s oil and gas output is expected to return to growth this year after operations ramped back up at Sakhalin-1, a project caught up in the fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine, Bloomberg News reported previously.

Read more: Russia’s Sakhalin Ramp Up to Help ONGC Videsh Return to Growth

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