The 40 per cent stake will involve an investment of $150 million (Rs 630 crore) in the $400-million (Rs 1,680-crore) project. The investment was approved by the union cabinet last week.

The oil field in Udmort was originally awarded to Samson International which, incidentally, pulled out its proposal to explore oil in two blocks in Gujarat recently. The US oil giant apparently lost interest in the contracts during the two-year long wait for government approval and decided to look for greener pastures elsewhere.

Among its new finds was the Russian property, which fits inwith Samson's global strategy of tying up investments in discovered properties along with exploration blocks. In India, too, Samson had bid, but unsuccessfully, for some discovered oil fields, an event that may have been partly been responsible for the company losing interest in the two oil exploration blocks in Gujarat.

ONGC-Videsh, which has a broad mandate from the centre (like all other national oil companies) to scout around for equity oil overseas, negotiated a 40 per stake in the Udmort venture with Samson. The company's rendezvous with Russian oilfields will not end there, however.

During his visit to Moscow last month, union petroleum minister Vazhapadhy K Ramamurthy discussed wide-ranging cooperation between the oil companies of the two countries. He proposed equity participation in Russian oil exploration ventures by domestic companies, including ONGC-Videsh.

A protocal signed at the end of the fifth meeting of the Indo-Russian Working Group on oil and gas on October 23 mentioned a proposalby ONGC-Videsh to explore oil in the Astrakhan region. The ONGC subsidiary will submit its proposal by mid-December this year.

The company is, along with its parent ONGC, negotiating the formation of a consortium with Reliance Industries and Russian company Zarubezhneft, that will take on oil projects in Iraq and other third world countries. The protocol in Moscow also proposes developing oil blocks in the Sakhalin region of Russia. ONGC-Videsh intends to open an office in Moscow shortly.