New Delhi, Jan. 14: India and Nigeria have expressed keen desire to take forward the existing cooperation between the two countries in the hydro-carbon sector.

At a bilateral meeting held in New Delhi on Tuesday with Dr. Emmanuel O. Egbogah, Adviser to the President on Petroleum matters, Additional Secretary in the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry S. Sundareshan informed that in the two blocks awarded to ONGC Mittal Energy Ltd. (OMEL), the company has strived to fulfill its obligations.

These include the operations to be undertaken both in upstream and downstream areas, Sundareshan said, adding that the Government of India looks forward to the Nigerian Government''s continued support for the project.

The Nigerian delegation is said to have informed that they have invited expression of interest(EOI) for the development of Nigeria Gas Master Plan. It said that the proposals received would be evaluated for their technical and commercial competitiveness before awarding the projects.

Indian oil public sector companies have also submitted their EOIs to participate in the implementation of the project. Further, the Indian side stated that its oil companies are keen to participate in the development of Nigeria''s hydrocarbon sector.

The two sides also discussed variety of corporate social responsibility projects undertaken by ONGC in and around its project sites, which have been immensely appreciated by the local community.

The Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC, R. S. Sharma, said his company has not only carried out exploration and production successfully in very difficult terrains, but has also been responsive to the needs of local population in terms of development of healthcare facilities and education centres etc. (ANI)