Oil and Natural Gas Corporation will set up a specialised trading desk in India to market crude oil received from investments in oil fields abroad and surplus petroleum products from subsidiary Mangalore Refinery Petrochemicals Ltd.

"We are talking to a few consultants in the field for setting up a specialised crude marketing and trading desk," company sources said.

ONGC wants to optimise export of surplus products like jet fuel, gasoil and fuel oil from MRPL, which till now are being done through tenders that give little margins.

Besides managing risk and hedging volatilities in the international oil market, the desk would also help the firm locate buyers for its 3 million tonnes per annum crude oil it would receive from a Sudan oil field, they said.

Sudan apart, the company, beginning next year, is likely to get crude oil from investments it has made in many other countries. The desk will help market that crude, they said.

The state-owned company was courting Daryl Pettison, the connoisseur who helped Reliance Petroleum Ltd set up a trading desk for its crude oil procurement and export of surplus product, but talks have not fructified into a partnership due to the exorbitant fee charged by the Australian.

"No decision has yet been taken," sources said.

Till such time, ONGC has retained services of Trafigura of London to trade its share of 60,000 barrels per day of crude oil from the Greater Nile Oil Project in Sudan.

"We are exploring if the Sudan crude can be brought to India. Meanwhile, Trafigura will trade for us for the next three months," they said.

The consultant would train ONGC personnel in oil market economy and risk management and hedging techniques, sources said.

ONGC, through its wholly owned subsidiary ONGC Videsh Ltd has acquired Canadian Talisman Energy's 25 per cent stake in GNOP.

While the company explores customers in India for Nile Blend crude produced from GNOP, which has higher viscosity that the crude domestic refineries are configured to process, Trafigura would help it sell its share in spot market, they said adding at present, Talisman works through Trafigura in London, whose job is to identify the consumer and fix shipping fixtures for transportation.

Nile Blend Crude, produced from GNOP, is currently being sold to customers in Far East and Mediterranean on Cost Insurance Freight basis.

OVL has set up a subsidiary, ONGC Nile Ganga, to manage GNOP operations, they said.