ONGC seeks foreign partnership to ramp up output from KG block

To ramp up output from the block, ONGC is now scouting for technical partnership with foreign players such as Chevron, TotalEnergies, among others.

India’s state-run oil exploration and production major ONGC is looking for an overseas partnership to ramp up production from its deep-water block in the Krishna Godavari basin, as the firm hits a roadblock in meeting its peak production target, a senior government official told Moneycontrol.

The official added that ONGC is unable to increase production beyond 35,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from its KG-98/2 block, lower than the company’s peak target of 45,000 bpd.

To ramp up output from the block, ONGC is now scouting for technical partnership with foreign players such as Chevron and TotalEnergies, among others.

“Increasing production from 32,000-35,000 bpd to 45,000 bpd is going to be a challenge (for ONGC). They are looking for someone with analogous reserves,” the official said.

Queries sent to ONGC remained unanswered at the time of publishing.

According to ONGC’s initial estimates, the company had expected to reach peak production of 45,000 bpd and 10 million metric standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) of gas by mid-2024 from its flagship KG-98/2 block. The company’s current production from the block, however, stands at 32,000-35,000 bpd.

To be sure, the peak target of 45,000 bpd was already a downward revision from ONGC's first estimates—set in 2017—of 78,000 barrels of oil per day and 15.57 mmscmd of gas.

ONGC’s Production Director Pankaj Kumar had told Moneycontrol in April 2024 that the company would meet its peak production target by December 2024 and expects “no negative variation” in peak production levels from the KG 98/2 block as output from existing wells is on a par with the company’s estimates.

Technical collaboration

Given that ONGC’s block in the Krishna Godavari basin is deep-water, advanced technology is required to further increase output and reach peak production of 45,000 bpd, the official said.

“ONGC does not have the required technology. We have data and studies done but need technical partners for further increase (in output),” the official said.

The company is trying to “organically” increase production from the KG 98/2 block to maintain reservoir health, the official added.

In a similar move, ONGC, in January 2025, had signed a contract with BP  to serve as the Technical Services Provider (TSP) for raising production from its Mumbai High field—India’s largest offshore oil field.

According to the partnership, BP would help ONGC increase crude oil production by approximately 44 percent and gas production by 89 percent over the 10-year contract period.