ONGC inks pact with BP for drilling stratigraphic wells in India

State-owned ONGC has signed an agreement with global energy giant BP to collaborate on drilling multiple stratigraphic wells in India.

This partnership will enhance geological understanding and unlock untapped hydrocarbon potential, strengthening India's long-term energy security, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) said in a post on X.

"#ONGC has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with @bp_plc on 17 July 2025, to collaborate on drilling stratigraphic wells in India's Category II & III offshore sedimentary basins: Andaman, Mahanadi, Saurashtra, and Bengal," the oil major said.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on the sidelines of Urja Varta 2025 event in the national capital.

Pankaj Jain, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said this was one of the initiatives that "we have been talking about sometime ... called stratigraphic wells."

This is the first of the series of such initiatives which will be done. ONGC has taken the leap to tie up with BP in terms of well design, well location, understanding geology etc.

As part of the agreement, ONGC will be putting in money, BP will provide expertise, he said.

In a statement, Kartikeya Dube, Head of Country, bp India, and Senior Vice President, bp group, said: "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."

Stratigraphic wells are drilled mainly for the purpose of stratigraphic information to provide aid in oil and gas explorations.