India's state owned oil company may bid for oil and gas blocks in Tanzania

India Thursday indicated that the state-run oil exploration and production company, the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC), would bid for licenses of oil and gas blocks in Tanzania. ONGC's overseas wing, the ONGC Videsh Ltd, is likely to bid in the next round of licensing for seven offshore and one onshore oil and gas blocks in Tanzania, according to the Indian Commerce Ministry. The matter came up for discussions between Indian Minister of State for Commerce D. Purandeswari and Tanzanian Industry and Trade Minister Abdallah O. Kigoda at a meeting during the Tanzania- India Joint Trade Committee talks in Dar-es-Salaam Wednesday, the Ministry said in a statement. "Both the ministers agreed to double the volume of bilateral trade in the next two years and to reduce the trade imbalance, which is currently in favor of India," the statement said. Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at 2.12 billion U.S. dollars in 2012. India has also agreed to cooperate with Tanzania for rehabilitation and modernization of the Tanzania Railway system, the Ministry statement added.