ONGC to ramp up oil, gas exploration

New Delhi: India's top oil and gas producer ONGC is pivoting a four-pronged strategy of ramping up exploration efforts, quickly bringing discovered resources to production, raising recovery from existing fields and increasing collaborations with experts to reverse years of decline in output, its new chairman Arun Kumar Singh said.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is keen to induct internationally renowned exploration firms as strategic partners in difficult areas such as deepsea and bring-in experts who can help raise productivity from ageing and mature fields such as prime Mumbai High, Singh said in an interview here. ONGC, which contributes around 71 per cent to India's domestic production, has reported a gradual decline in output for over a decade now primarily because its fields are old and ageing. It produced 21.707 million tonnes of crude oil, which is refined to produce petroleum products like petrol and diesel, and 21.68 billion cubic meter (bcm) of natural gas, which is used to produce electricity, manufacture fertilizer and as CNG in automobiles.

"We are focusing on three key areas: deepwater exploration, monetising the discovered fields on fast-track and enhancing production from producing fields through enhanced oil recovery and improved oil recovery techniques.