New Delhi, April 27
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Wednesday said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Norway’s Equinor ASA for collaboration on upstream Exploration & Production (E&P), midstream, downstream, and clean energy options.
The State-run oil explorer and the Norwegian State-owned multinational energy company will also partner for solutions such as carbon capture utilisation & sequestration (CCUS), ONGC said in a statement.
According to the agreement, ONGC and Equinor will collaborate n the fields of upstream oil and gas, midstream, marketing and trading, besides exploring further options in low carbon fuel, renewables, Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) and CCUS opportunities in India, it added.
The MoU is valid for two years, under which both companies have agreed to work together in the areas identified. The MoU was signed during the visit of a high-level delegation from Norway to India. Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri, Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt, ONGC CMD Alka Mittal and Executive Vice-President of Equinor Irene Rummelhoff were present on the occasion.
ONGC has been pursuing a green energy agenda through various alternatives and renewable sources of energy. It has set a target of producing a minimum of 10 gigawatts (GW) of renewable power by 2040 while continuing its focus on the core E&P business.
In December last year, To realise its green energy objectives, ONGC inked a MoU with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), which provides a broad, overarching framework for both the government run entities to collaborate and cooperate for undertaking renewable energy projects including solar, wind, solar parks, EV value chain, green hydrogen, storage, etc.
Considering the strategic significance of CCUS technology towards transition to net-zero emissions, ONGC is partnering with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) for setting up a CCUS project for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) from depleted oil fields. The project will utilise CO2 captured from IOC’s Koyali refinery for injecting in to the depleted reservoirs of Gandhar oil field in Gujarat.