Indian state-controlled upstream firm ONGC is set to jointly bid with BP and private-sector refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) in the latest ongoing oil and gas exploration bidding round, a senior official from ONGC told Argus at the sidelines of the India Energy Week in Goa.
ONGC is working with the two firms and considering other partners for more joint ventures to improve production from their domestic fields, he added.
RIL signed an agreement with ONGC this week to share resources for deepwater offshore exploration and production operations on India's east coast, particularly across the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin and Andaman offshore basin, the firms said in a statement this week.
The agreement marks a major step towards cost optimisation, faster execution, and improved asset utilisation in complex deepwater projects, ONGC said.
ONGC and RIL will pursue sharing of key resources required for offshore operations, which may include onshore and offshore processing, facilities, drilling rigs, marine vessels, power and pipelines, it added.
The three firms partnered for the first time in ninth round under the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy's (HELP's) Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP). They won a shallow-water block in the Saurashtra basin.
ONGC has a 40pc stake in the consortium, and RIL and BP hold 30pc each, a trading source said.
The latest oil and gas exploration round concludes on 18 February, according to the official website.
This is the fourth extension to the 25 oil and gas blocks on offer in the 10th bidding round under the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licencing Policy's (HELP) Open Acreage Licencing Programme (OALP).
