ONGC exiting Poco Verde exploration area offshore Brazil

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - ONGC Videsh is withdrawing from the Poco-Verde area in the Sergipe-Alagoas offshore basin where Brazil's state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4.SA) recently discovered a new light oil deposit, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Petrobras, as the company is known, earlier this week announced the oil discovery in a deep-water well in the Poço Verde area in the BM-SEAL-4 exploration block, off the coast of the northern state of Sergipe.

ONGC Videsh, the overseas investment arm of explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC.NS), however, is continuing with its 25 percent stake in Moita Bonita Pad within BM-SEAL-4 block.

ONGC Videsh had assigned its stake in Poco Verde area to Petrobras on Sept. 3 last year after a techno-economic evaluation, it said in a filing to the stock exchange.

"... the process for notification of the partial withdrawal to the regulator is currently in progress," ONGC said.

ONGC Videsh acquired a 25 percent stake in BM-SEAL-4 block in 2007, according to the company's website.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma, editing by David Evans)