Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Shell Energy India Private Ltd have signed a non-binding MoU to explore joint opportunities in deepwater and ultra-deepwater oil and gas exploration. The two companies will also look at opportunities for LNG sourcing, ONGC said on Monday.The agreement was signed on August 10 and provides a framework for the two companies to assess potential areas of cooperation across India’s energy sector. It does not commit either company to any specific investment or project.Under the proposed collaboration, ONGC and Shell Energy India will explore joint participation in deepwater and ultra-deepwater offshore blocks offered under the government’s Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP), including the ongoing OALP Rounds X and XI and future bidding rounds.The companies will also examine opportunities under the broader Samudra Manthan initiative, along with possible farm-in and farm-out arrangements involving ONGC’s existing OALP blocks.“Upstream Oil & Gas: Exploring joint participation in deepwater and ultra-deepwater offshore blocks offered under (currently underway) Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) Rounds X and XI, as well as future bid rounds, under the broader impetus of SamudraManthan. The two companies will also explore farm-in/farm-out opportunities in ONGC’s existing OALP blocks. The MoU sets out a non-binding framework for such collaboration,” it said.Focus on deepwater explorationThe agreement with Shell comes as ONGC has been pursuing collaborations with international companies to bring additional expertise into India’s deepwater exploration programme.In August 2022, ONGC signed a Heads of Agreement with ExxonMobil to collaborate on deepwater exploration along India’s eastern and western coasts. ONGC has also signed memorandums of understanding with global majors including ExxonMobil and Chevron for deep- and ultra-deepwater exploration.The proposed partnership with Shell brings together ONGC’s position as India’s largest oil and gas explorer and Shell’s global expertise in upstream exploration and LNG.The upstream cooperation would cover potential participation in future offshore licensing rounds and the assessment of opportunities to bring additional partners into existing ONGC blocks through farm-in and farm-out arrangements.The collaboration comes as India seeks to accelerate exploration of offshore resources and attract investment and technical expertise into deepwater and ultra-deepwater acreage.LNG sourcing also on agendaThe second area of cooperation under the MoU is LNG sourcing.“Exploring opportunities in LNG sourcing to support India’s transition towards a stronger gas-based economy. By bringing together complementary capabilities and global expertise, the collaboration seeks to create new synergies across the energy value chain, supporting deeper exploration, greater energy availability and India’s long-term energy security,” ONGC said.The two companies will explore opportunities to collaborate on LNG sourcing as India seeks to expand the role of natural gas in its energy mix, increase gas consumption and strengthen the availability of gas supplies.ONGC said the collaboration is intended to create synergies across the energy value chain and support deeper exploration, greater energy availability and India’s long-term energy security.“Exploring deeper. Collaborating stronger. Powering India’s energy future,” ONGC said in a post announcing the agreement.The MoU is part of a broader push by Indian energy companies to secure additional domestic oil and gas resources while expanding access to LNG as the country seeks to build a more gas-based economy.
