Citing anonymous industry sources, the report stated, “RIL has put in a very aggressive bid in the Oman government tender for three Gulf of Oman deep-water blocks. The blocks are believed to hold crude oil and condensate reserves, and RIL may [win] one of them.”

“RIL is on prowl overseas. It has put in place a crack team with former ONGC Videsh managing director Atul Chandra as the boss and, after Yemen, Qatar is on Chandra’s radar,” added the insiders.

While RIL has declined to comment on the revelations, it is no secret the Mumbai-based giant plans to expand overseas and had earlier indicated it was in the market to acquire a “small to medium-sized oil exploration and production company” to help it conduct E&P operations in west Asia, Latin America, Africa, Australia, Sudan, Venezuela and Iraq.