New Delhi: With domestic crude production stagnating at around 32 million tonnes, India's search for more crude oil through investments in oilfields abroad would fructify in about 8 million tonnes of oil from 2005.

Flagship exploration firm Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has taken stakes in fields in Russia and Vietnam besides negotiating participation in a producing oilfield in Sudan, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik said on September 18.

Investment of Rs 8,000 crore in Sakhalin oil field in Russia for a 20 per cent stake would give India 4 to 8 million tonnes of crude oil from 2005 while the 25 per cent stake in Sudan, worth Rs 3,750 crore, would start giving immediately 3 million tonnes, he said.

Besides, Rs 900 crore has been invested in a gas field in Vietnam which would start producing gas by the year-end.

Addressing a seminar on "Ethanol & Bio-Diesel", Naik said India spent Rs 78,000 crore on import of 70 per cent of its crude oil requirement in 2001-02.

"International oil markets are very volatile. Acquiring equity oil abroad was a step towards achieving self-sufficiency," he said while expressing satisfaction at the September 17 fall in international crude prices on news of Iraq's willingness to co- operate with United Nations.

War clouds over Iraq were threatening to snowball into a "oil shock" similar to ones witnessed in 1873 and 1980 when crude oil prices more than doubled, adversely impacting the economy, he added.

PTI