ONGC Said to Seek Acquisition of Canadian Oil Sands

March 25 (Bloomberg) -- Oil & Natural Gas Corp., India’s biggest energy explorer, is seeking to buy oil-sands assets in Canada, three people familiar with the matter said.

ONGC is currently evaluating the finances of a Canadian field, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are preliminary. The explorer is considering buying an asset that can produce about 10,000 barrels a day of heavy oil, worth at least $1 billion, two of the people said.

India, planning a sovereign wealth fund to help companies bid for overseas energy assets, has asked state-run ONGC and Oil India Ltd. to make at least one acquisition each in the year starting April to meet demand in the world’s second-fastest growing major economy. Indian companies are competing for overseas energy resources with China, which spent a record $32 billion last year buying oil, coal and metals projects abroad.