Oil India seeks route to get $300 mn stuck in Russia
Oil India, a major Indian oil and gas company, is seeking a route to repatriate a $300 million dividend currently held in Moscow due to Western sanctions on Russian entities and banks since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The dividend, which has been stuck in the Moscow branch of State Bank of India, represents investments in two Russian oil assets - JSC Vankorneft and Tass Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha. These stakes give Oil India and its partners a combined 53.8% interest in the assets.
Chairman Ranjit Rath told shareholders on Thursday that the company is actively exploring ways to transfer the funds back to India, though he did not disclose the specific method. Meanwhile, Oil India is bolstering its domestic operations. The Numaligarh Refinery, a subsidiary of Oil India, is set to commission a 120,000-barrel-per-day crude unit by March, bringing the refinery's overall processing capacity to 180,000 barrels per day.
Additionally, Oil India is constructing a 1,635-km crude pipeline from Paradip port in Odisha to Assam, with the pipeline expected to be operational by the end of 2026.
Beyond its expansion plans, Oil India has exited exploration projects in Gabon and Bangladesh. Despite this, the Numaligarh refinery continues to export diesel to Bangladesh via a pipeline, with Rath affirming that supplies are uninterrupted and there is no payment backlog.
Written by urgent.news from The Economic Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
