The Indian government is seeking answers from Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) after the premature announcement of a deal with Videocon. The Oil Ministry wants ONGC to explain circumstances that arise leading to an erroneous announcement of the US$2.5 billion deal for a 10% stake in the Mozambique gas field.

On Tuesday, ONGC issued a statement to the stock exchanges saying the press release was an early announcement and that talks are still in progress. Monday last, ONGC issued a statement saying it has undergone a US$2.47 billion deal with Videocon to buy 10% of stake in the gas field in Mozambique. Two and a half hours later, the company took back the statement and said it was inadvertently issued.

According to a senior executive in ONGC, the cause of the delay was because ONGC Videsh and OIL are now in talks with a new investor engage partnership with the company. This will lead to acquiring 20% stake instead of the 10% stake announced in its premature press release.