ONGC Videsh Plans First Dollar Debt in 2 Years

ONGC Videsh Ltd., the overseas unit of India’s largest energy explorer, plans to raise more than $1 billion to refinance a bridge loan, according to Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Finance Director A.K. Srinivasan.

The planned bond will be state-run ONGC Videsh’s first dollar-denominated issuance since 2014, when it raised $1.5 billion. Borrowing by Indian companies in the U.S. currency picked up in the first-half of 2016 to a total of $2.4 billion, compared with about $1.9 billion in the July-to-December period last year.

ONGC Videsh signed a nine-month $1.16 billion loan with six banks last month to fund its purchase of a stake in Russia’s Vankor field. The New Delhi-based company completed acquisition of the 15 percent equity in Rosneft OAO’s unit JSC Vankorneft for $1.27 billion, it said in a statement May 31.