New Delhi: State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) will acquire Scottish explorer Cairn Energy Plc's stake in two oil and gas blocks in Bay of Bengal and Gujarat offshore for about $ 100 million.

ONGC will acquire Cairn's 90 per cent stake in deep-sea block KG-DWN-98/2 in the Krishna Godavari Basin, off the Andhra Pradesh coast and 10 to 15 per cent stake in shallow water CB-OS/2 block off the Gujarat coast.

"We have reached an understanding with Cairn Energy for buying their stake in the two blocks," ONGC chairman and managing director Subir Raha told a news conference in New Delhi.

Besides about $ 100 million, Cairn will also get 15 per cent stake in ONGC's Ganga Valley block GV- ONN-2000/1 and Cambay basin block CB-ONN-2001/1. ONGC currently has 85 per cent stake in GV- ONN-2000/1 while the remaining is with Indian Oil Corp. It holds 100 per cent stake in the Cambay basin. Both these on-land blocks were awarded to ONGC in New Exploration Licensing Policy rounds (NELP) I and II.

Cairn had earlier offered to sell its 85 per cent stake in blocks KG-DWN-98/2 and KG-OS/6 (also in KG Basin) for $ 100 million and a 15 per cent interest in two blocks, which ONGC won under the NELP rounds.

However, ONGC was not interested in KG-OS/6 block and wanted only KG-DWN-98/2 which lies next to Reliance Industries' gigantic gas find and instead wanted stake in CB-OS/2, where five oil and gas discoveries have been made to date.

ONGC's non-interest in KG-OS/6 stems from the fact that the exploration license of the Andhra offshore block would expire in the next 6 months.

PTI