The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is considering putting in more bids for stakes held by western companies in Russian oil and gas fields.

“The war will not last forever, nor will the sanctions. We must move to secure our energy supplies. We understand the risk and we are willing to take the risk,” a source in the know of developments was quoted in a report by The Economic Times.

Currently, ONGC is looking at making an offer for Shell’s 27.5 per cent interest in the Sakhalin-II oil and gas project.

They are also likely to bid for the 30 per cent stake held by ExxonMobil in the Sakhalin-I project. However, ET reports that the ONGC board hasn’t considered the aforementioned bids yet.

ONGC along with Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Oil India have held initial talks amongst themselves to purchase BP’s 20 per cent share in Russian energy behemoth Rosneft.

However, the energy major’s first bid for Shell’s 50 per cent holding in Salym fields in Siberia has not been accepted yet. ONGC’s offer didn’t involve any immediate cash payment to Shell. They instead proposed future oil revenues from the Salym fields to the British company.

Indian companies are looking to acquire cheap Russian energy assets as western oil companies have been exiting Moscow in the wake of its ongoing war with Ukraine.