India's ONGC Denies Leviathan interest

India's Oil and National Gas Corp (ONGC) Videsh has denied that it is pursuing a stake in the Leviathan gas field offshore Israel.

In a notification to the National Stock Exchange of India, the state controlled entity said "ONGC Videsh is currently not pursuing any stake in the Leviathan field off Israel coast. Further, no inputs were provided by ONGC Videsh which has led to the referred cited news in Financial Express."

The Indian business daily has quoted an un-named ONGC official who reportedly indicated that the company was interested to "...participate in the Leviathan fields and other blocks offered for farm-in in Levantine basin in Israeli waters.

It was furthermore reported that ONGC Videsh had sought guidance from India's petroleum ministry to pursue exploration and production investments in Israel.