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Business Standard

Hydrocarbon exploration auctions: ONGC may tie up with Petrobras, BP, RIL

India's largest-ever hydrocarbon exploration bidding round, offering 191,986.21 square kilometres under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) Round X, may see renewed interest from global oil and gas majors in the country's exploration and production (E&P) sector. According to multiple sources close to the development, state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is already in talks with Brazil's Petrobras and London-headquartered BP Plc, in addition to domestic major Reliance Industries (RIL), to jointly bid for the round. The closing date for bid submission is July 31, according to the hydrocarbon regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons. Sources indicate that ONGC, which accounts for 70 per cent of India's domestic crude oil and natural gas production, is expected to show interest in all 25 blocks on offer during the round, while partners may be brought on board for exploration in deep and ultra-deep acreages. Official queries mailed to RIL, ONGC, BP, and Petrobras did not elicit a response. 'ONGC is keen on all 25 blocks on offer under OALP X — some alone and some with partners. Partners are being brought in because these are difficult areas and require a huge amount of money. We are engaging in talks with almost every company, including Petrobras, BP, and RIL,' said a source aware of the development. In OALP IX, of the 28 hydrocarbon blocks on offer earlier this year, ONGC secured 15 — four in partnership with other players and 11 independently. Of those, GS-OSHP-2022/2 in the Saurashtra Basin was a joint bid by ONGC (40 per cent participating interest), RIL (30 per cent), and BP Plc (30 per cent). That was the only time the three majors collaborated. ONGC has also had an association with Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, in the past. Interestingly, although Petrobras had a 15 per cent stake in KG-DWN-98/2 operated by ONGC, the Brazilian major relinquished it in early 2010 to focus on oil and gas finds back home. In April this year, Brazil's state-run oil firm's head of E&P, Sylvia Anjos, confirmed that it had already collected data to assess the potential of offshore areas in deep and ultra-deep waters in India for the upcoming round. In February, Petrobras signed a memorandum of understanding with both ONGC and Oil India Corporation for possible collaborations in India — including in upstream, marketing, decarbonisation, and low-carbon solutions. 'The company has teamed up with an international partner and a private sector entity earlier as well. There is no problem with that. We appreciate foreign entities coming into the E&P space in India,' a petroleum ministry official said, referring to state-run national oil and gas company ONGC. The government has been keen on drawing foreign entities into the E&P space for the past few years. However, a glut in global oil supply, combined with weak industrial demand in key markets, has dampened exploratory spirits, another executive pointed out. 'It's also no secret that foreign companies often opt for a local partner to navigate the Indian market. ONGC's tieups are just the latest reflection of that,' he said. In a first-of-its-kind move, BP was appointed by a public sector player to boost production in January, when ONGC brought the oil major on board to help ramp up output at the Mumbai High offshore oil field. The following month, both signed a three-year memorandum of understanding to explore collaboration in oil and gas exploration, production, trading, and new energy vectors, both in India and internationally.