OIL, Total Energies sign deepwater technology pact to boost offshore exploration

New Delhi: Oil India Limited (OIL) announced on Wednesday that it has signed a “Technology Service Agreement” with Total Energies to deepen strategic collaboration for exploration across deepwater and ultradeepwater offshore frontiers in India. The agreement was inked on Wednesday in New Delhi in the presence of Petroleum Secretary Pankaj Jain, Additional Secretary Praveen Mal Khanooja, and OIL Chairman and Managing Director Ranjit Rath.

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According to OIL, the agreement “puts in place a framework to leverage TotalEnergies’ world-class expertise in deep and ultradeep water exploration value chain across OIL’s current & future offshore portfolio.”

The pact was signed by Sangkaran Ratnam, CMD, Total Energies Gas & Power Projects India Pvt Ltd, and Saloma Yomdo, Director (E&D), OIL, in the presence of senior officials from both the companies.

Focus on Andaman, Mahanadi and Krishna-Godavari basins

OIL said the collaboration will support a range of ongoing and upcoming exploration programmes. This includes the “ongoing appraisal programme of gas find in the shallow offshore blocks in Andaman Basin” and exploration activities in its OALP-IX ultradeepwater blocks in the Mahanadi and Krishna-Godavari basins.

The agreement will also cover “evaluation of opportunities under ongoing OALP X / future bid rounds” and provide technical support for stratigraphic well drilling initiatives in offshore Category-II and III basins, the company added.

‘Significant milestone’ in offshore push

OIL described the partnership as a key step in its broader push into offshore exploration. The company said the collaboration “marks a significant milestone in OIL’s commitment to pursue exploration in offshore frontiers towards possible hydrocarbon discovery and secure sustainable energy future for India.”

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