Indian Oil and Gas Giant Sub Found Oil in Iran

ONGC Videsh Ltd., India's explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp.'s subsidiary, has found oil in Iran's Farsi exploration block, a top company official said on Tuesday.

The Farsi block is spread across 6,700 km (4,163 miles) in the Persian Gulf and sits in water depths of up to 90 meters.

ONGC Videsh, which is the block operator, owns 40 percent of the asset. India's top state-run refiner Indian Oil Corp. Ltd. also has 40 percent, and Oil India Ltd. the rest.

The official said the company drilled in April the first well of four committed to under the initial phase of its block exploration program.

ONGC Videsh produced about 6.62 million tons of oil and oil equivalent gas in 2005-06 from assets in Sudan, Vietnam and Russia. The company owns oil and gas assets in 15 countries.