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• The drilling was suspended last year after the exploration team was unable to tether the drillAs part of its efforts to assert India’s presence in the South China Sea, state-owned ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) will resume drilling in the disputed hydrocarbon block No. 128.“We are going ahead with our drilling plan,” said a top executive at Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd, who declined to be named. OVL is the overseas arm of the Indian explorer.The drilling was suspended last year after the exploration team was unable to tether the drill.China, which disputes sovereignty over the waters with Vietnam, had earlier objected to the presence of an Indian vessel surveying the area.

• OVL has now identified a suitable technology to anchor the rig to the seabed.“We are scouting for a rig for the same to drill one well in the block that will require a window of 45 days,” an OVL executive said, requesting anonymity.OVL’s presence in Vietnam is through 45% and 100% stakes in blocks 06.1 and 128, respectively. It was also earlier present in block 127 after acquiring a 100% participating interest and operatorship, but later decided to relinquish it to PetroVietnam after it detected no hydrocarbon presence.While the firm has made an investment of $68 million in block 127, it has invested around $46 million in block 128.

• OVL’s earlier plans for drilling couldn’t fructify as the deployed rig Hakuryu-V couldn’t be anchored to well B 128-RV-1X. The anchor was successfully tested around one-and-a-half months ago.“The Chinese had earlier threatened our survey vessel. We had then asked the government of Vietnam and PetroVietnam for clarification and were told that the area was in their territorial waters. We had also asked MEA (ministry of external affairs), who told us that there was no reason to worry,” said the OVL executive. “The rig for block 128 started drifting as the sea bed was hard and the anchor didn’t settle.”

• With India importing more than 80% of its energy needs, state-owned firms have been scouting overseas for securing assets and have invested Rs. 64,832.35 crore in the effort. This push has pitted the country against China in a geopolitical race to sew up as much of the world’s resources as it can.Despite Chinese objections to India-Vietnam energy cooperation in the disputed South China Sea, the latter two nations had in October signed a pact to expand their partnership in oil and gas exploration, refining, transportation and supply during Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang’s visit to India.

• “Before we signed the MoU (memorandum of understanding), there were media reports on the growing tension in the area,” said the OVL executive.Questions emailed to the embassies of China and Vietnam in New Delhi and the MEA on Wednesday remained unanswered.China and Vietnam are among many countries that hold competing claims over the South China Sea and the islands in its waters.In June, tension flared between China and Vietnam over the Spratly and Paracel islands, following clashes between Chinese and Vietnamese boats.

• India was also looking to bid for more oil and gas blocks off the coast of Vietnam, which is seeking bids for nine blocks, but has dropped the plans as there was “nothing much of interest”. Similarly, OVL also doesn’t plan to bid for Myanmar blocks.According to the oil ministry, India’s energy demand is expected to more than double by 2035, from less than 700 million tonnes of oil equivalents today to around 1,500 million tonnes of oil equivalents.

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