September 19, 2026: State-run Oil India Ltd (OIL) plans to spend Rs 150 billion on drilling deepwater exploration wells over the next three years across acreages in the Andaman, Krishna-Godavari, Mahanadi and Kerala-Konkan sedimentary basins, said the company’s chairman and managing director, Ranjit Rath, on Thursday.
 
Oil India plans to significantly ramp up deepwater exploration, supported by the central government’s initiative Samudra Manthan, which aims to partly finance deepwater and ultra-deepwater exploration activities in India, Rath said at a post-annual general meeting (AGM) media briefing.
 
With an approved outlay of Rs 840.84 billion through 2030-31 under the Samudra Manthan scheme, the government will provide financial support of up to 50 per cent of eligible drilling costs for exploratory wells, subject to a ceiling of Rs 6.75 billion per well, whichever is lower

 Oil India is also looking to acquire overseas assets in both oil and gas and critical minerals to ensure energy security. The company has submitted bids for some opportunities, with results awaited, said Rath.
 
The company currently has overseas exploration and production oil and gas assets across seven countries, including Russia, Venezuela, Nigeria, Mozambique, Libya, Gabon and Bangladesh.
 
Oil India also plans to participate in upcoming Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) bidding rounds and is exploring the possibility of joint bids with international oil companies, said Rath.
 
The company aims to boost oil and gas production with accelerated exploration in deep- and ultra-deepwater blocks while also expanding its clean energy portfolio in areas such as solar energy and compressed biogas (CBG). Rath said the government’s recently approved GOBARdhan scheme is likely to provide impetus to Oil India’s plans to set up CBG plants.

(Source: Business standard)