Oil India seeking foreign technology partner for first offshore foray

Global companies like ExxonMobil, Equinor and Baker Hughes are being considered

Eyeing exploration and production off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Oil India Limited will soon launch roadshows in Abu Dhabi to attract foreign partners, chairman of the company Ranjit Rath told Business Standard on the sidelines of the ongoing 2024 India Energy Week (IEW) here.

For the partnership, international companies such as ExxonMobil, Equinor and Baker Hughes are being considered.

The company has two shallow-water blocks, AN-OSHP-2018/1 and AN-OSHP-2018/2 in the Andaman shelf, awarded in 2018 in the third round of the open access licensing programme (OALP).

The national oil company has allocated upwards of Rs 1,500 crore for its move into offshore exploration, Rath said, adding that exploration under the first phase is set to begin in September 2024.

The company has already finalised contracts for three rigs.

Oil India Limited is one of two state-owned oil companies engaged in exploration and production activities. The other being ONGC. The company has a total of 4 offshore blocks spread across 13,230 square kilometers in the Konkan-Kerala, Krishna-Godavari and Andaman Islands.

OIL is aiming to increase production of crude oil to more than 4 million metric tonnes. The production of natural gas is expected to reach 5 billion cubic metres annually in the coming years.

The public sector energy producer is working on a series of new wells and gas fields to go into production in Assam and Rajasthan. This development will enable the company to achieve a crude oil production of 3.8 million tonnes (mt) in the current year. This new target represents a 20 per cent increase against the 3.18 mt of oil produced in 2022-23 (FY23).

The company's overseas E&P portfolio is spread across seven countries — Russia, Venezuela, Mozambique, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Libya and Gabon.

OIL is in the process of drilling up to 60 new wells in FY24, up from 45 in FY23 and 38 in 2021-22. To support this activity, it has awarded contracts for two additional drilling rigs and extended the engagement tenure for existing rigs.

The government is targeting 1 million square kilometres under exploration by 2030. The area has doubled in the past five years to 242,055 square km as of 2024. It has reduced the “no-go” areas in the Indian offshore sedimentary basins by 99 per cent.