NEW DELHI (Commodity Online): India's public oil utilities have owned a Russian oil company apart from acquiring strategic equity stakes in an oil field project in Venezuela through consortium route, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada.

The state runs oil utilities such as Oil India Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation and OVL have acquired 18% stake in the project. The country owned a Russian oil firm named Imperial Energy through ONGC Videsh, he said in the Parliament on Tuesday.

Prasada said the recent discovery of an oil reserve in Barmer by the government would help in meeting 25 per cent of the nation's current oil production.

While the Barmer oil reserve can meet 25 per cent of the country's current oil production, the KG Basin gas reserve has the capability of equaling the total gas production of the country in the coming days, the Minister said.

To another query on the 'peak oil theory', the minister said various studies have given different views.

India Energy