By IANS,
New Delhi : ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas exploration arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corp, has not yet received any information from Russian authorities on the status of their application for relevant approval of the acquisition of Imperial Energy, the company said Friday.
Earlier Friday, media reports from Moscow said Russia’s anti-trust body, Federal Anti-Monopoly Service, had approved the application.
The approval of the anti-trust agency is required as the UK-based Imperial holds some key oil and gas assets in Russia.
“OVL has not received any notification from any Russian governmental authorities,” the London-based spokesperson for OVL told IANS.
“The situation today officially has not changed from September 8 when the necessary filings were made,” he added.
Imperial Energy’s board in August approved the acquisition offer of OVL at 1,250 pence in cash for each share, totalling about $2.5 billion.
Indian Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has repeatedly lobbied with Russian leaders to get the approval quickly, both with president Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladmir Putin.