Deep Dive: Oil India seeks foreign collaboration for deepwater exploration, says CMD

Oil India sees partnership with global players not only for transfer of advanced technology but also a way to hedge risks faced in exploration of difficult areas.

Oil India Limited is looking to collaborate with international oil companies (IOCs) for deep and ultra-deep water exploration as the government opened bidding for major offshore blocks under the latest OALP (Open Acreage Licensing Policy) bidding round, Chairman and Managing Director Ranjit Rath told Moneycontrol in an interview.

Rath said the approval of the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill, 2024—aimed at facilitating investments in the country’s oil and gas exploration projects—would be an enabler for IOCs to look at India as an exploration destination.

“For our collaboration, the ORD Act will be a major enabler for international oil companies to look at India as an exploration destination. Given that we have our presence in Andaman and Nicobar, and we are carrying out drilling, there is lot of interest with the international companies and national oil companies and we are in touch with a couple of them. The MOUs are in place with a confidentiality agreement, and they are all going through our data, and they are also doing their internal assessment,” said Rath.

The ORD Act was approved by the Rajya Sabha on December 5 and now awaits the approval of the Lower House. The proposed new law will replace the existing Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act of 1948, which was last amended in 1969.

The Indian upstream companies are awaiting the passing of the bill to partner with global players for exploration activities in difficult areas such as deep and ultra-deep water which require advanced technology.

Rath said the state-run oil exploration company sees such a partnership not only for transfer of advanced technology but also a way to hedge risks faced in exploration of difficult areas. Major IOCs include energy giants such as Shell, TotalEnergies, BP and ExxonMobil, among others.

“Since we have unlocked the no-go zone areas in the Indian EEZ (exclusive economic zone), both West Coast and East Coast, and the Andaman Nicobar basin, we would look forward to collaborations with international oil companies. That would not only give an opportunity for getting the technology for deep and ultra-deep water drilling, but also will help us hedge our risks. As a national oil company, we will be very aggressive in terms of our exploration efforts,” said Rath.

For context, the Indian government on February 11 launched the largest OALP round—which is primarily an offshore bidding round—with 25 blocks on offer. The round is primarily an offshore bid round with 19 such blocks on offer. Of the total 25 blocks, six each are on land and in Shallow Water, one in Deep Water, and 12 blocks are in Ultra Deep-Water areas.

Launching the latest OALP round, the Centre said India has opened up 99 percent of the 'no-go' areas for exploration. In OALP-X, 16 blocks fall in the no-go areas, i.e., sedimentary blocks or areas which were earlier restricted for exploration due to various reasons, including environmental clearance.

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Joint bidding with global players

Among other global players, Oil India is exploring the possibility of joint bidding with the Brazilian state-run oil and gas major Petrobras in the latest OALP round, said Rath.

At India Energy Week (IEW) 2025, OIL and Petrobras signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on February 12 to facilitate collaboration for exploration and production of hydrocarbon resources in India’s offshore regions.

“During IEW 2025, we have signed an MOU with Petrobras. Our objective is that Petrobras has got extensive experience and expertise in deep and ultra-deep water drilling and exploration and production in Atlantic. So, we are exploring the possibility of having them on board for a joint bidding for the OALP-X bidding round. Simultaneously, we are also expecting that the results will be formally announced for the OALP-IX bidding round. So, we are also talking to the international oil companies to collaborate in the OALP-IX round,” said Rath.

The Indian government launched the OALP-IX bidding round in January 2024,  offering 28 blocks totalling around 1.36 lakh square kilometres., results of which are awaited. The 28 blocks on offer in the OALP-IX round are located throughout eight sedimentary basins and contain nine onland blocks, eight shallow water blocks, and 11 ultra-deepwater blocks.

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Andaman exploration efforts

As the government opens the ‘no-go’ areas for exploration, Indian companies are extensively ramping up exploration efforts in the Andaman basins—which are projected to be sitting on large reserves of hydrocarbons.

Rath said the company has seen interest among global players for exploration in the area. OIL currently plans to drill four wells in its blocks in the Andaman basin which would require capital expenditure of approximately Rs 2,500 crore.

“We have decided to drill four wells, up to a depth of around 4,000 (metres). Right now, we are drilling the first well, we have already touched 3,800 meters. And going forward, we will be drilling three more wells. It is a capex of about Rs 2,500 crore. The international consultants who have done the studies, and our in-house team has established that the area is prospective enough to be explored,” said Rath.

Oil India has two shallow-water blocks, AN-OSHP-2018/1 and AN-OSHP-2018/2, in the Andamans, which the oil explorer had won in the third open acreage licensing policy (OALP) round.

According to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), Andamans is a ‘Category II’ basin, which implies that the basin has sub-commercial discovery in place. Category II basins are those that have contingent resources which are yet to be converted to recoverable reserves. The basins in the Andamans have an area of 2,25,918 square kilometres with 18,074 sq km shallow-water area and 2,07,844 sq km of deepwater area.