ONGC outlines $10.5bn plan for deepwater exploration in India
Tue, September 1, 2026 at 1:43 PM GMT+3 2 min read
The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is planning to invest around $10.51bn (Rs1tn) over the next five years to explore deepwater and ultra-deepwater oil and gas fields in India.
The funding will support the drilling of 87 wells by March 2031, ONGC chairman and CEO A K Singh said at a news conference.
Singh noted that recent technological advances are now making it possible to tap India's substantial deepwater oil and gas resources, which were previously inaccessible.
The increased exploration activity is part of ONGC's efforts to address ongoing declines in domestic oil and gas production.
According to Singh, India experienced a fall in crude oil output for the 11th consecutive year in fiscal year 2026 (FY26), making new discoveries critical for strengthening domestic supply.
Alongside its exploration programme, ONGC will allocate around Rs70bn for the construction of a 1.75 million tonne (mt) strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) in Mangalore, southern India.
The Indian Government has directed ONGC to develop this facility and land acquisition for the project has already taken place.
Expanding SPRs is part of the country's approach to managing global oil price volatility and supply disruptions.
Singh also said that ONGC plans to establish a trading unit in either Dubai or Singapore by the end of March 2027.
The proposed joint venture with a global company could handle up to 50mt of crude oil, refined fuels and gas annually, trading not only ONGC's own products but also third-party volumes.
Last month, ONGC signed a two-year binding letter of award with Transocean to deploy the latter's Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2 drill-ship in India.
"ONGC outlines $10.5bn plan for deepwater exploration in India" was originally created and published by Offshore Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.
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