State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Tuesday said that it is in talks with global oil majors to infuse state-of-the-art technologies in its aggressive exploration push in Deepwaters of India.

The Maharatna company held discussions with major operators at the India Energy Week (IEW) 2023 here.

The company held discussions with the US oil and gas giant ExxonMobil, Norwegian energy multinational Equinor, US oil services conglomerate Baker Hughes, French research organisation Institut Français du Pétrole on various issues including technology and Deepwaters, ONGC said in a statement.

Energy security is geography dependent. India has kept E&P investment the same, and ONGC is investing $3.5 billion to keep up production, ONGC Chairman and CEO Arun Kumar Singh said.

Eyeing deep-water exploration, Singh highlighted that the world is now getting balanced, as Deep-Sea investments are becoming economical. A combination of factors are there. For India and China there is one reality. However, other geographies have different realities.

Singh emphasised that investments needed are now as more renewables have come in. So, there is an issue of structural inefficiencies which have crept in. The transition to renewables is a reality, however, oil and gas will remain in focus in the journey. It will happen eventually.

At the IEW 2023, ONGC is looking to make India’s energy self-reliant by achieving its economic aspirations. The upstream sector major eyes IEW as a platform to foster a pentathlon of collaborations. Looking at Deepwater oil and gas exploration, Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), boosting renewables capacity, building carbon capture, utilisation and sequestration capabilities (CCUS) and developing India into the world’s leading hydrogen economy.

The reporter is covering the India Energy Week 2023 at the invitation of Indian Oil Corporation.