New Delhi: State-run Oil India Ltd (OIL) plans to invest around ₹15,000 crore over the next three years to explore offshore deep and ultra-deep blocks in the country in a bid to ensure India’s energy security, said Ranjit Rath, chairman and managing director of the company.
OIL currently has a presence across multiple onshore and offshore sedimentary basins. Its offshore portfolio now includes acreages in the Andaman, Krishna-Godavari, Mahanadi and Kerala-Konkan basins, including ultra-deepwater blocks.
“We acquired 48 000 sq. km in these water and ultra deep water, two blocks in KG Basin and two blocks in the Mahanadi basin, for which we have already completed 2D and 3D seismic surveys. Data processing is underway, and we are also reprocessing the vintage data that is available. Our idea is that we will be able to avail the benefits from the Samudra Manthan scheme,” he told reporters after the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) on Thursday.
“By virtue of undertaking drilling, we are already in the process of identifying (potential blocks). As a matter of preparedness, we have already created a capex of about ₹15,000 crore,” he added.
The announcement comes about a month after the Union cabinet approved ‘Samudra Manthan’—the national offshore exploration scheme—with an outlay of ₹84,084 crore until fiscal year 2031 (FY31).
In a statement on Thursday, the company said its expanding offshore programme is closely aligned with this national mission. “In the Andaman basin, Sri Vijayapuram-2 established a natural gas occurrence, while Sri Vijayapuram-3 resulted in a gas discovery with continuous flaring, providing encouraging evidence of an active system in this frontier basin. The Company is strengthening its deep and ultra-deepwater capabilities through advanced seismic evaluation, technology partnerships and preparations for future offshore drilling campaigns,” the company said.
Expansion plans and net-zero goal
Addressing shareholders at the AGM earlier in the day, Rath outlined OIL’s growth priorities, centred on higher domestic oil and gas production, accelerated exploration including deep and ultra-deepwater opportunities, strengthening of its integrated energy value chain, and selective expansion in clean energy.
During FY26, OIL produced 3.450 million tonne (MT) of and 3.186 billion cu. m (bcm) of natural gas. It also completed 74 wells—22 exploratory and 52 development—in the last fiscal.
As part of its vision to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, the company said it is building its clean-energy portfolio through OIL Green Energy Ltd (OGEL), with a focus on compressed biogas (CBG), integrated CBG and waste-to-energy projects, renewable energy and other low-carbon opportunities.
“OIL has also reduced its scope 1 & 2 by about 18% against the FY24 baseline, alongside a 32% reduction in gas flaring, as it progresses towards net-zero 2040,” it said.
Rath told shareholders the company will remain focused on growing domestic oil and gas production, expanding India’s hydrocarbon resource base, building capabilities for frontier offshore exploration and developing scalable new energy businesses, while maintaining capital discipline and a strong balance sheet.