Hello and welcome to this episode of the Energy Connects podcast in the run-up to India Energy Week in Goa next month. I am your host Chiranjeev Sengupta, and I'm delighted to be joined today by Dr. Ranjit Rath, Chairman and Managing Director of Oil India. Dr. Rath, it's such a pleasure to have you with us. And to start off, could you please tell us more about Oil India and how it has contributed to the growth of the Indian energy sector?
First of all, Chiranjeev, a warm afternoon to you and your entire team who is doing this fabulous job of creating a connect between the leadership and our august viewers who are going to participate in IEW 2024. We had an excellent IEW 2023 and we are actually looking forward with high hopes and expectation to IEW 2024. Given this background, we strongly believe that these connects will help us to reach out to possible collaborators, stakeholders, and audiences who would watch or participate in IEW 2024. Answering your question, Oil India Limited is the oldest E&P company of this part of the globe, not only in India. To date back, it was 1889, the first discovery of hydrocarbon happened in upper northeastern part of Assam in a place called Digboi, where by virtue of laying the railway line, it was discovered. And then the first well was drilled, and then they say rest is history. So, with a legacy of 1889, then followed by 1953 post-independence, the first discovery happened in a place called Naharkatia, which is also in upper Assam, followed by 1956 in a place called Moran in upper Assam. That's the legacy of Oil India Limited. Today, we do about 3 million metric ton of crude oil production. We do about 3 BCM of natural gas production. We cater to all the refineries located in the northeastern part of the country, say Digboi Refinery, Numaligarh Refinery, Guwahati Refinery, in terms of crude oil supply, and also in terms of natural gas, we supply to Numaligarh Refinery, we supply to the power plants in northeastern part of the country, we supply to the Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer unit where polypropylene is produced. We also supply crude oil and natural gas to Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Limited. We also supply to the tea gardens of upper Assam, where the tea gardens use this natural gas as their fuel. Oil India Limited, being a national oil company which has recently been granted the status of Maharatna during August 2023, plays a crucial role in terms of ensuring energy security of the country. By virtue of creating production from its mature fields and adding more accretion of reserves, and as we speak, we carry about 60,000 square kilometer of exploration acres with us and about 5,000 square kilometer of mining lease with us. That is Oil India Limited and this is our contribution to the Indian energy sector. In addition, we also have our major subsidiary, which is Numaligarh Refinery Limited. Today, it is a 3 million metric ton refinery which produces majorly LPG, motor spirit that is petrol, and high-speed diesel, which caters not only to the northeastern market. It also caters to the eastern market of India and by virtue of a dedicated pipeline called Indo-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline and through railway rake, we also supply our product to Bangladesh. That's also under the focus of Government of India's Look East Policy. Overall, Oil India Limited, along with its subsidiaries, plays a seat-anchor role under the hydrocarbon vision for North India 2030.
Right. And that mirrors a lot of the progress that has also happened in the Indian energy sector of late. And could you share some of the highlights of your future growth plans and partnerships that you're looking forward to?
When I say future growth plan, I would highlight two or three things. One, we have already created a strategy roadmap for us up to 2030 and 2040. Having secured the Maharatna status, the dynamics or the empowerment of the board allows us to go for technology-driven collaborations with international oil companies and that is what is our focus right now. In addition, I must tell you that we have about 10 such assets overseas spanning seven countries globally. And we are also looking at future collaborations. Not only Oil India venturing outside, but also collaborations where we would invite the national oil companies of the world or independent oil companies or international oil companies to have India as a destination for exploration and production. I must narrate here that the flagship reform of Government of India Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has created an enabler of unlocking about 1 million square kilometer of area in the offshore of East Coast and West Coast of India, the exclusive economic zone, and also the Andaman Nicobar basin. With this, by virtue of the OALP Open Acreage Licensing Program rounds, we have got access to two blocks in Andaman Nicobar and one block in Kerala Konkan basin. As we speak, we have identified prospects and we are looking for collaborations to pursue those exploration efforts. In addition, we are also looking for collaboration in terms of our future bidding participation in OALP 9 and OALP 10, which will be primarily the deep and ultra-deep water exploration efforts. Besides this, we are also looking at technological studies where we are engaging with international consultancy organizations to enhance our potential in terms of exploration success and production efforts in the main producing area, which is primarily upper Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Tripura, and also we have our assets in Rajasthan, the Jaisalmer Basin in the northwestern part of the country. We also have exploratory assets of about 15,000 square kilometer in the onshore Mahanadi Basin, and we have a small DSF block in the KG offshore. As we speak, while our strategy is to enhance our exploration coverage and expedite our production, we are also looking forward through a concerted strategy to discover hydrocarbon in our existing exploration acreage. That's the upstream part of it. As far as the midstream segment is concerned, we are the oldest pipeline owner in the country and we run a crude oil pipeline from upper northeastern Assam to Siliguri, and we also have a product pipeline from Numaligarh to Siliguri. As we speak, we also own some natural gas pipelines in our infield areas. Besides this, the Numaligarh refinery is currently undertaking a refinery capacity expansion from 3 million ton to 9 million ton. For which we are also building a crude oil pipeline from Paradip to Numaligarh refinery, which is about 1,640 km. And as part of the refinery expansion, we are also planning for a polypropylene unit in Numaligarh. That's the broad outline of our future strategy.
Right. That's really interesting to hear, Dr. Rath. And as one of the country's leading geoscientists, how do you view the Indian and the global energy markets in 2024? And also, I wanted to understand how is Oil India contributing to the energy transition growth that's happening in India?
The geoscientist in me is very optimistic about the E&P potential of the country. As I've just told, we have one of the best regimes in terms of exploration possibilities, and in terms of yet-to-find resources, because exploration has not happened yet in the deep and ultra-deep waters of India, where we could say that the offshore Mahanadi, offshore Bengal basin, offshore KG basin, though there have been discoveries and production, but future potentials exist, offshore Kaveri basin, and the offshore of Andaman Nicobar. From an exploration point of view, this offers opportunity. And as a national oil company, while we are exploring the possibility of offering our bids or expression of interest, we are seeking collaboration with international oil companies who have excellent track records in their offshore exploration efforts and successful efforts at that. That is as part of the E&P narrative of the country. And globally, we strongly believe that hydrocarbon fossil fuel would coexist for a substantial period of time with the alternative energy narrative that has already taken impetus. So, we would continue to focus on exploration and production and concurrently create a portfolio of alternative energy which would include renewables, green hydrogen, and more specifically, as an E&P company, we understand the narrative of net zero which is part of our operations. So, if we need to do gas monetization and which ultimately leads to zero flaring, that is our net zero effort. Since we understand the subsurface by virtue of our exploration efforts, we plan to develop that know-how into utilizing it for developing the carbon sequestration possibility which will help us in meeting our net zero target by creating an offset of CO2. To me, India is one of the brightest spots in the globe today in terms of the energy landscape, and globally you would notice the exploration effort continues to be pursued with the same vigor. With energy-hungry nations, either from a consumption point of view or from a demand center point of view, the producers will continue to produce and ensure that exploration efforts continue.
