Oil India (OIL) Chairman Ranjit Rath said on Thursday that the state-run E&P company will spend ₹15,000 crore over the next three years to step up exploration in offshore deep and ultra-deep blocks.
The Maharatna company has a presence across multiple onshore and offshore sedimentary basins across the Andaman, Krishna-Godavari, Mahanadi and Kerala-Konkan basins. Its exploration footprint exceeds 1 lakh sq km.
“We had acquired 48 000 sq km in the deep and ultra deep water, two blocks in KG Basin and two blocks in Mahanadi basin, for which we have already completed 2D and 3D seismic. As we speak, data processing is underway and while we are processing the acquired data, 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,” Rath said at a media briefing after OIL’s AGM.
₹15,000 crore capex planned over three years
By undertaking drilling, OIL is already identifying potential blocks. As a matter of preparedness, the company has created a capex of roughly ₹15,000 crore to be spent over three years, he added.
Outlining growth priorities for the E&P company, Rath said the focus is on higher domestic oil and gas production, accelerated exploration including deep- and ultra-deepwater opportunities, strengthening its integrated energy value chain, and selective expansion in clean energy.
He noted that the Samudra Manthan scheme and the GOBARdhan scheme provide significant policy impetus to two areas in which OIL is building its future capabilities.
Offshore programme expands across frontier basins
OIL’s expanding offshore programme is closely aligned with Samudra Manthan. In the Andaman basin, Sri Vijayapuram-2 block established a natural gas occurrence, while Sri Vijayapuram-3 resulted in a gas discovery with continuous flaring, providing encouraging evidence of an active petroleum 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.
Refinery, pipeline infrastructure gets boost
OIL has also continued to strengthen its integrated presence across refining and pipeline infrastructure. The expansion of Numaligarh Refinery (NRL) from 3 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 9 mtpa progressed during the year, while the augmentation of the Numaligarh-Siliguri Product Pipeline from 1.72 mtpa to 5.5 mtpa was completed, strengthening energy infrastructure in the Northeast.
“OIL 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,” Rath told reporters.