Three years after its much-acclaimed maiden entry into Israeli water that was symbolic of New Delhi’s growing closeness with Tel Aviv, an ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL)-led Indian consortium has relinquished the offshore oil block due to “very poor” hydrocarbon prospectivity. The consortium of OVL, Indian Oil Corp (IOC NSE -0.40 %), Oil India Ltd and Bharat Petro Resources Ltd (BRPL) has relinquished offshore Block-32, two officials with the partners said.
When the Indian consortium in late 2017 won the Israeli energy ministry’s nod to bid for the block, it was hailed as New Delhi’s growing closeness with Tel Aviv amid a widening chasm with Iran over its recalcitrance in awarding the Farzad-B gas field development rights to the OVL-led group.
