‘We plan so as to add over 100,000 sq. kilometres yearly, to achieve an formidable goal of 500,000 sq. kilometres by 2025.’
Photograph: Kind courtesy ONGC
In the wake of ONGC discovering what it describes as ‘notable findings’ of oil and gasoline not too long ago, Sushma Rawat, director (exploration) of the corporate spoke with Subhomoy Bhattacharjee/Business Standard on the corporate’s technique, tie ups with world majors and different points.
How did you get to those finds?
ONGC’s relentless pursuit of exploring untapped areas has yielded these finds.
By diligently analysing geological information and using superior applied sciences, the corporate has efficiently recognized substantial oil and gasoline reserves, reaffirming the untapped potential throughout the OALP blocks.
The discovery represents a momentous achievement, underscoring exploration and can broaden home manufacturing to scale back India’s reliance on imported oil and gasoline.
You have signed various kinds of agreements with worldwide oil majors. How will they play out sooner or later for ONGC? What will you provide?
ONGC is eager to work with world majors as strategic companions in difficult areas and bring-in experience in three key areas: deep water exploration, monetising the found fields on fast-track and enhancing manufacturing from mature fields by enhanced oil restoration and improved oil restoration methods.
What we’re wanting ahead to in collaborations is substantial worth additions by the companions.
ONGC is open to giving fairness stake in tough fields to de-risk deep water/tough ventures and produce capital in areas that are know-how and capital intensive.
We are keen to collaborate with any entity who has a know-how and danger urge for food.
In some areas, we will have service suppliers, and in another areas, we might have know-how companions and embody monetary companions.
We have signed Heads of Agreement with ExxonMobil for collaboration in deep-water exploration in KG-Cauvery and Kutch offshore basins.
An MoU with Chevron for potential collaboration within the Tripura fold belt, Bengal offshore, KG-Cauvery.
A CA signed with TotalEnergies, France, for Andaman & Mahanadi offshore and an MoU with Equinor, Norway for varied scope of labor together with upstream, midstream, advertising and marketing, renewables (offshore wind) and CCUS.
There is additionally an MoU signed with Shell to co-operate in CCUS research, specializing in joint CO2 storage examine and EOR screening evaluation for ‘key basins’ in India, together with depleted oil and gasoline fields and saline aquifers.
What have been the important shortages that made you faucet these corporations?
As I stated, to harness the advantage of worldwide experience, danger sharing, know-how and ability enhancement, as a strategic instrument.
Our deep/ultra-deep water exploration is very a lot within the forefront and is going to accentuate within the years to return.
However, rig useful resource availability and prioritising sources can be a giant problem for exploration.
As , ONGC has adopted Energy Strategy 2040 as its strategic blueprint for the longer term in 2019.
The power transition and future power demand state of affairs have been the elemental drivers of the roadmap and, going alongside, it is clear that this transition is going to play an more and more stronger function in charting out the longer term insurance policies and techniques.
Will these tie ups result in a rise in ONGC’s investments for exploration because the firm has solely allotted a mean exploration price range of Rs 31,000 crore (Rs 310 billion) yearly for the three-year interval ending FY24?
We have already got a plan to accentuate our exploration efforts and have been aggressively growing our exploratory acreages by OALP.
In the subsequent three years we plan a rise in CAPEX by 150 per cent for exploration in comparison with the final three fiscals.
In this respect, it is pertinent to say that bringing reputed world E&P gamers within the Indian hydrocarbon business could also be a sport changer and can assist open a brand new vista.
ONGC is venturing into high-risk high-gain deep/ultra-deep water exploration on the east and west coasts of India.
For that, we’ve already acquired a couple of deep/extremely deep water exploration acreages beneath OALP within the Cauvery basin, Andaman basin and Mahanadi basin.
ONGC has already explored 200,000 sq. kilometres of Indian sedimentary geology.
We plan so as to add over 100,000 sq. kilometres yearly, to achieve an formidable goal of 500,000 sq. kilometres by 2025.
So our deep-water exploration is more likely to see massive capex.
Overall, we will make investments round $7 billion within the subsequent 3-4 years to reverse the declining development in oil and gasoline manufacturing.
