BP to expand operations with RIL, ONGC: report

BP plc will expand its oil and gas exploration and production  (E&P) operations through its partnership with Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC), Mint reported, citing the topmost executive at the global energy firm.

The London-based energy firm’s chief executive Murray Auchincloss said the company’s participation in the bidding round for energy resources has gained momentum, aligning with India’s strategy to achieve self-reliance in oil and energy exploration and production.

RIL and BP supply about one-third of India’s domestic production, Auchincloss said, adding that the energy firm will seek exploration license access jointly with RIL and the development of discovered marginal resources in other blocks through infrastructure sharing.

BP also wants to expand its partnership with ONGC to more oil and gas fields, the report said, citing Auchincloss.

In January, ONGC picked BP as technical services provider (TSP) for the Mumbai High field, India’s most prominent and prolific offshore oil field, lying 160 km into the Arabian Sea off the Mumbai coast.

BP will comprehensively review the field’s performance as the TSP, identify improvements, and implement suitable technological interventions and practices to improve production and recovery from this critical national resource.

The Mumbai High field was discovered in February 1974 and started production on 21 May 1976. It accounts for 25% of India’s output. The field is estimated to have a balance reserve of 80 million tons (610 million barrels) of oil and over 40 bcm of gas.

BP will serve in an advisory role to ONGC, identifying recovery technologies and practices to stabilize production and reverse decline, returning production from this nationally important oilfield to a strong growth path.

BP is one of India’s most prominent international energy companies, investing over $12 billion across the country’s energy value chain.

Its major gas value chain partnership with RIL has brought three new deepwater natural gas projects upstream, accounting for a third of India’s gas production.