ONGC And BP Sign MoU To Advance Stratigraphic Well Initiative
Oil and natural gas majors Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) and British Petroleum (BP) signed an MoU at the Urja Varta on 17th July 2025 in Delhi. The signing was done in the presence of Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Puri.
The MoU between ONGC and BP seeks to advance the Stratigraphic Well Initiative, a collaboration between the two companies to drill non-commercial test wells in off-shore sedimentary basins. These wells, known as stratigraphic wells, help in gathering geological data to gauge a location’s deep-water hydrocarbon potential for future commercial drilling.
India hopes to unlock its stratigraphic potential by making strategic investments in unexplored and under-explored sedimentary basins.
Announcing it on social networking site X, the Director General of Hydrocarbons tweeted,
ONGC and BP will collaborate on high-risk, high-rewards basins. They will collaborate on drilling stratigraphic wells in India’s Category II and III sedimentary basins in Andamans, Mahanadi, Saurashtra and Bengal.
Commenting on the partnership, ONGC’s X handle tweeted, “This partnership will enhance geological understanding and unlock untapped hydrocarbon potential, strengthening India’s long-term energy security.”
Explaining it further on another social networking website LinkedIn, ONCG said that the collaboration will focus on deeper plays with complex geology. The two behemoths would combine their joint technical expertise for high-risk, high-rewards basins. The collaborate will also be a long-term investment in India’s energy security, while boosting domestic production that is aligned with India’s energy goals.
Speaking about the collaboration, Kartikeya Dube, Head of Country, bp India, said, “We are excited to underpin our existing alliance with ONGC in this project of national and strategic significance. We believe drilling of new stratigraphic wells will be very valuable and can lead to a new understanding and potential. bp’s experience in deep water exploration supported by new seismic technologies would be of great assistance during the evaluation and subsequent drilling of stratigraphic wells.”
