Strategic Partnership for India's Energy Future
In a significant development for India's energy sector, state-run Oil India Ltd (OIL) has joined forces with French energy giant TotalEnergies to explore deep and ultra-deepwater offshore basins across the country. The partnership was formalized through a Technology Service Agreement signed on November 19, 2025 in New Delhi, marking a crucial step in India's quest for energy self-sufficiency.
Expanding Offshore Exploration Frontiers
The collaboration will focus on ultra-deep water blocks in the Mahanadi and Krishna-Godavari Basin that Oil India secured during the ninth round of bidding under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP). Additionally, both companies will evaluate opportunities under the ongoing tenth OALP round and future bidding opportunities.
Ranjit Rath, Chairman and Managing Director of OIL, emphasized the importance of this international collaboration. "Securing collaboration with an international oil company helps in enhanced technology-driven seismic 2D and 3D analysis and helps us in securing their global experience and expertise," he told Mint.
Technology Transfer and Strategic Benefits
The agreement enables Oil India to leverage TotalEnergies' extensive expertise in deep and ultra-deep water exploration across its current and future offshore portfolio. TotalEnergies will provide crucial support during stratigraphic or test well drilling initiatives in offshore Category II and III Basins, as mandated by the Government of India.
Beyond exploration, both companies will partner in the appraisal program of a gas discovery in shallow offshore blocks in the Andaman Basin. This follows Oil India's earlier announcement of natural gas reserves discovery off the Andaman Islands, considered vital for India's energy security. The company had won two blocks in the energy-rich Andaman basin during the third round of auctions in 2020.
Boosting India's Energy Security
Industry experts have welcomed this partnership as a critical move toward reducing India's import dependence. Gaurav Moda, Partner and Leader for Energy at EY-Parthenon India, noted, "Although deep and ultra-deepwater basins have the potential to meet India's domestic needs, the technology required for exploration and production in these basins is niche. Global collaborations are valuable to extract such potential."
This isn't Oil India's first international partnership. In February, the Maharatna company signed a memorandum of understanding with Brazil's Petrobras for hydrocarbon exploration in India's offshore regions. Similarly, ONGC has partnered with UK-based bp plc for offshore explorations and stratigraphic well drilling.
Under the OALP-IX round, Oil India acquired nine blocks spanning 51,000 square kilometers, with three blocks won in partnership with ONGC and six independently. The company aims to achieve oil and gas production of 10-12 million tonnes of oil equivalent by the end of this decade, building on its record FY25 production of 6.71 million tonnes of oil equivalent.
