OIL consolidates its primary roles and embraces additional verticals

In an exclusive interview with India Energy Week News, Dr Ranjit Rath, Chairman & Managing Director of OIL, India’s second largest hydrocarbons producer, discusses the company’s current activities and plans.

• How is OIL looking to boost its oil and gas production capacity and contribute to the country’s energy growth and security?

In recent times, OIL has built strong positive momentum which is propelling us to new heights. We are maintaining the increasing trend of crude oil and natural gas production and have achieved the highest natural gas production (during FY 2023-24) since our inception, along with a ~6% increase in crude oil production over the last year. Combined oil and gas production during FY 2023-24 is 6.54 MMTOE O+OEG (oil and oil gas equivalent), also our highest O+OEG production since inception. These developments and trends have reinforced our belief in achieving 4+MMT crude oil and 5 BCM of natural gas per annum under our Mission 4+ initiatives.

Towards this, various measures are being taken up, such as:

• Fast-tracking fi eld development, including drilling in complex geological formations, plus enhancing rig resources catered to drilling in deeper horizons

• Significant increases in rig resources for increasing workover activities

• Implementation of well stimulation techniques, such as hydrofrac and radial drilling

• Implementation of low salinity water injection in new reservoirs

• Production optimisation through nodal analysis, artificial lift optimisation and installation of plunger lift and hydraulic pumps

• Planning commingled production for accelerated tapping of oil reserves

• Implementation of the ongoing cyclic steam stimulation EOR method in more wells in Rajasthan’s Baghewala field

• Production enhancement contract (PEC) in more areas

• Re-imaging and remapping priority zones in main producing areas with the acquisition of new seismic data

• Near-field exploration to identify opportunities in nearby producing areas in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, for production immediately after discovery

Identification of bypassed oil in old wells with an integrated approach of reprocessing and reinterpretation of well logs and drill cutting information with updated geological understanding. Additionally, surface facilities and infrastructure are being augmented to support oil and gas production by creating new OCS, GGS and pipelines, as well as the refurbishment or revamping of old installations.

Towards meeting a more than 50% increase in envisaged gas production, FGGS at prolific gasfield Baghjan, Tinsukia district, is under construction and a 30” natural gas pipeline from upcoming FGGS is completed.

Recently, we commissioned a crude oil and gas pipeline, which connected Kumchai field, Arunachal Pradesh, to our main producing areas in Assam. This resulted in a substantial reduction of natural gas flaring; we are targeting zero gas flaring in 2025.

Furthermore, the Government of India approved connecting our oil and gas fields in Assam to the Northeast Gas Grid through a 24” x 160km natural gas pipeline. It will unlock our potential to substantially enhance natural gas production, currently limited due to less local market demand. Our current accelerated exploration campaign will aid in enhancing our oil and gas production long term. OIL is aiming to double exploration acreages, with 50% in offshore regions. We spudded our first offshore well under the OALP regime in Andaman & Nicobar basin in November.

The exploration blocks, awarded during initial OALP bid rounds, are under the drilling phase. Drilling campaigns in OALP acreages in Assam Shelf, Rajasthan basin, Mahanadi basin and Andaman & Nicobar are underway; we are expecting new discoveries in the near term.

• Please talk to us about OIL’s global partnerships and collaborations to support its robust phase of growth?

We are reaching out to IOCs for potential collaborations and partnerships to realise the immense hydrocarbon potential of offshore region Indian sedimentary basins and are in advanced stages to finalise collaboration with prominent IOCs and NOCs. We carried out petroleum system modelling of selected offshore basins and the IOCs/NOCs have
evinced interest for collaboration.

Recently, the Government mandated OIL and ONGC to drill four stratigraphic wells to obtain critical data for robust modelling of petroleum system elements in Category-II and III Sedimentary Basins of India.

In this regard, OIL signed a technical service agreement with TotalEnergies on November 18, under which TotalEnergies will offer technical assistance and expertise to OIL in a stratigraphic wells drilling campaign in the deep waters of Mahanadi basin and Andaman & Nicobar basin. Furthermore, TotalEnergies and OIL signed a cooperation agreement to carry out a methane emissions detection and measurement campaign using TotalEnergies’ pioneer AUSEA (Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Applications) technology at OIL’s India operational sites.

• Any other new areas of business for OIL?

Given the increasing importance of critical minerals and the energy transition impacting our current core business, we are moving forward to strategic diversification in the critical minerals sector by leveraging current capabilities and knowledge. This aligns with OIL’s vision to emerge as India’s energy leader by enabling it to contribute to the nation’s energy security.

Towards this, OIL along with OVL (ONGC’s subsidiary) and KABIL signed an MoU with International Resources Holding RSC LTD (IRH) of Abu Dhabi, UAE and its subsidiaries on September 9 for global cooperation in supplying critical minerals, primarily with an objective to collaborate in identification, acquisition, and development of critical mineral projects on a global scale, including India. This collaboration will encompass the entire value chain.