ONGC seeks global technical partners for western offshore fields

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• ONGC seeks global technical experts for western offshore oilfields, tender out
• Bid submission deadline is March 16, process expected to finish by June
• Production at Mumbai High field has stabilized since bp's involvement

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After hiring bp as its technical service provider for the Mumbai High field, state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp is now looking to hire technical experts for its oilfields in the western offshore, according to a company’s top official.

The upstream major has floated a tender during the first week of January for the same and has reached out to as many as ten global players including Shell, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, and Chevron seeking bids from them, the company’s director (production) Pankaj Kumar said.

"We are now in the market for another technical service provider covering the Western Offshore, excluding Mumbai high field. The tender has been floated, and we have personally communicated with the CEOs of 10 major E&P operators, including Shell, bp, Chevron, Exxon, TotalEnergies among others,” Kumar told reporters at the sidelines of the India Energy Week.

The last date for bid submission is March 16, and the company is hoping to complete the process by June subject to technical discussions and reviews, Kumar said.

Last year, ONGC and bp had signed a contract wherein bp was to serve as the Technical Services Provider for the Mumbai High field of ONGC to stabilize the field’s current production decline and restore it to a robust growth trajectory.

Under the terms of the contract, BP will receive a fixed fee for a period of two years for its deployed personnel, followed by a service fee linked to incremental oil and gas production.

In November 2025, the company had said that it expects recovery in its oil production from the Mumbai High field starting January with major production gains anticipated in FY29–FY30.

“Since bp mobilised in April, the production decline has been stabilised,” Kumar said. “We have added around 3,500–4,000 barrels per day of oil and 2–2.5 million standard cubic metres per day of gas over the minimum baseline. Current production is already above the agreed baseline profile,” he added.

For the fiscal year 2025-26, the company has set a target of 22 million tonnes of crude oil production and expects the output to marginally increase next fiscal year.

“As of now, we expect production to be slightly higher than last year. The fields remain largely the same, there are no major new additions, and the challenges also remain similar,” Kumar said.

The company expects to complete the Daman Upside Development project by May of this year.

Kumar further said that the Andaman offshore region remains a focus for the company and ONGC has found presence of hydrocarbons there.

“Basinal presence and hydrocarbon indications have been established, but deep-water challenges remain,” he said. “Further seismic analysis and drilling decisions will depend on ongoing evaluations, and no timelines or production volumes can be committed at this stage," Kumar added.