Pressure on ONGC to steer clear of Farzad

ONGC Videsh, the overseas arm of state-owned explorer ONGC, is unlikely to go ahead with its investments in Iran’s Farzad-B gas block because of the US sanctions on the Islamic nation.

Tehran has indicated that it could come out with a licensing round for the development of the field by an Iranian contractor if the Indian firm does not enter into an agreement soon.

Sources in the state-owned firm said they would take a call only after getting a formal communication from Iran.

However, sources indicated that given the US sanction on Iran, it was unlikely that OVL would go ahead with the development of the gasfield.