ONGC inks agreement with ExxonMobil for deepwater exploration in Indian coasts

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has signed a Heads of Agreement (HoA) with global petroleum giant ExxonMobil for deepwater exploration in the East and West coasts of India.

The Heads of Agreement document was signed in the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas on August 17, 2022 by Rajesh Kumar Srivastava, Director (Exploration), ONGC, and Monte K Dobson, CEO & Lead Country Manager, ExxonMobil India, in the presence of Pankaj Jain, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.

"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. Collaboration between ONGC and ExxonMobil will be a strategic fit where ONGC’s knowledge and past experience in these areas will be coupled with ExxonMobil’s global insights," ONGC said in a statement.

Petroleum Secretary Pankaj Jain 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."

Director (Exploration) ONGC Rajesh Kumar Srivastava 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.”

ExxonMobil India’s CEO & Lead Country Manager Monte K Dobson said, “It’s an exciting opportunity to collaborate with ONGC. Great things happen when the right people collaborate. He further added that 25 per cent of the ExxonMobil brain power is currently engaged in evaluating Indian deepwater. ExxonMobil is geared up to take this collaboration to the next level.”

The energy major had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with renewable energy company Greenko ZeroC in July, to make green hydrogen and to jointly pursue opportunities in renewables, and other derivatives of green hydrogen.

ONGC logged a tripling of net profit in the June quarter to Rs 15,205.85 crore as it earned record prices before the government slapped a tax on windfall profits arising from a global rally in energy rates.

ONGC's shares were down 0.18 per cent at Rs 139.65 on the BSE today.