ONGC

Company Profile

ONGC Videsh Ltd./OVL is the overseas arm of India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation/ONGC, the country's highest profit-making corporation. [1] ONGC is ranked 133 on the Forbes Global "Best Big Companies" list for 2002 - 2003. [2] OVL is the second largest E&P company in India, and currently has nine overseas assets, while it is actively seeking more opportunities across the world.

According to OVL, among its "outstanding achievements, two stand out at first glance itself: a whopping US$ 1.7 billion investment in the Sakhalin oil fields of Russia, the largest of its kind by an Indian corporation, and the securing of a 25% share in the renowned GNOP fields of Sudan via a one-time investment of US$ 720 million, yet another record for an Indian corporation". [2]

ONGC Videsh and Shwe

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The Shwe gas project, where ONGC Videsh Ltd holds a 20% stake, is the company's first investment in Burma. However, the OVL already has major stakes in an oil exploration project in Sudan, where corporate involvement in the E&P sector has been criticised for supporting a government guilty of human rights violations. In 2003 OVL bought a 25% stake in the Greater Nile Oil Project, [3] which implies large-scale human rights abuses by the government of Sudan. The government's efforts to control the oilfields in the war-torn south of the country have led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians. [4]

Other countries, in which OVL invests and which are known for their poor human rights record include, among others, Vietnam, Indonesia, Libya, UAE, Venezuela and Algeria. While human rights violations there have not been linked to OVL directly, the company through its investments nevertheless supports governments who have been criticised internationally for their human rights record.

Already, ONGC is listed on the ‘Business and Human Rights Resource Centre’s list of companies investing in Burma [5] and ONGC Videsh Ltd is listed on the International Trade Union Movement’s list of multinationals with links to Burma. [6]

Sources:
[1] http://www.ongcindia.com/profile.asp#b
[2] http://www.ongcvidesh.com/corp_profile.asp
[3] http://www.ongcindia.com/def2.asp?fold=F:\ongcnet\eature_article&file=feature_article111.txt&xx=Feature_article
[4] http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/11/sudan112503.htm
[5] http://www.business-humanrights.org/Categories/IndividualCompanies/O/ONGCOilNaturalGasCorporation
[6] http://www.global-unions.org/burma/company.asp?ID=441