ONGC inks agreement with ExxonMobil for deepwater exploration in India

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Wednesday (17 August 2022) announced that it has signed a Heads of Agreement (HoA) with global petroleum giant ExxonMobil for deepwater exploration in East and West coasts of India.

The collaboration areas focus on the Krishna Godavari and Cauvery Basins in the eastern offshore and the Kutch-Mumbai region in the western offshore. There has been a scientific exchange of exploration data in the last few years, which has led to this partnership, the company stated.

Speaking at the event, Pankaj Jain, the petroleum secretary, said, Partnerships between a National Oil Company (NOC) like ONGC and an International Oil Company (IOC) like ExxonMobil will bring tangible benefits in the entire energy value chain and open new vistas to Exploration & Production paradigm. This collaboration will boost our confidence in going further ahead in deepwater exploration in the east coast of India where the potential is quite significant.

Rajesh Kumar Srivastava, the director (exploration) ONGC , said, With this strategic collaboration to pursue exploration, I look forward to long lasting partnership. Through the discovery route, ONGC hopes to move to development wherein the inherent strength of ExxonMobil would be beneficial for efficient fast-track monetization. This will enable ONGC to ensure steps towards Energy Security for India.

Dr. Monte K Dobson, CEO & lead country manager of ExxonMobil India's, said, It's an exciting opportunity to collaborate with ONGC. Great things happen when the right people collaborate. He further added that 25% of the ExxonMobil brain power is currently engaged in evaluating Indian deepwater. ExxonMobil is geared up to take this collaboration to the next level.

Maharatna Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is the largest crude oil and natural gas company in India, contributing around 71% to Indian domestic production. It has in-house service capabilities in all areas of exploration and production of oil & gas and related oil-field services. The Government of India held 58.91% stake in ONGC as of June 2022.

The company reported a standalone net profit of Rs 15,206 crore in Q1 FY23, steeply higher than Rs 4,335 crore recorded in Q1 FY22. Net revenue increased 83.8% YoY to Rs 42320.72 crore during the quarter.

Shares of ONGC were down 0.55% to Rs 135.65 on the BSE.

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