The tie-up with Exxon focuses on the Krishna Godavari and
Cauvery basins in the eastern offshore region and the
Kutch-Mumbai region in the western offshore area.
Exxon is also keen to buy a stake in some of the local
deepwater blocks of ONGC, former oil secretary Tarun Kapoor
said.
(Reporting by Nidhi Verma, editing by Ed Osmond)
NEW DELHI, March 6 (Reuters) - India's top explorer Oil
and Natural Gas Corp has signed a memorandum of
understanding with French major TotalEnergies for
exploration of deep-water blocks, the company tweeted on Monday.
India, the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer,
ships in over 85% of its oil from overseas. The country wants to
quickly monetise its oil and gas resources to reduce its
reliance on costly imports.
The MoU seeks to provide technical help for ONGC's push to
explore and reduce green house emissions in development of
deep-water blocks especially in Mahanadi and Andamans, off
India's east coast.
"We will jointly evaluate Exploration and Development
opportunities to create synergies with local economies," said
Sushma Rawat, ONGCs' Director for Exploration.
ONGC last year signed heads of agreement with U.S. oil giant
ExxonMobil Copr for deep-water exploration on the
country's east and west coasts.
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