Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with US petroleum giant EXXON-Mobil on 14 October 2019. This MoU will enable the two petroleum companies to undertake joint technical studies and cooperate in frontier areas like deep water and other Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) blocks of ONGC in east and west coast and open acreages for joint bidding.

The MoU being endorsed by ONGC Director (Exploration) RK Srivastava and EXXON-Mobil CEO, South Asia William P Davis

The MoU was signed on the side-lines of IHS-CERAWeek at Delhi by ONGC Director (Exploration) Mr R K Srivastava and EXXON-Mobil CEO, South Asia Mr William P Davis in the presence of Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Petroleum Secretary, Dr. M M Kutty and ONGC CMD Mr. Shashi Shanker.

The work under the MoU will be carried out in three phases. This will lead to a joint technical study for potential collaboration areas.

The MoU being exchanged by ONGC Director (Exploration) R K Srivastava (left) and EXXON-Mobil CEO, South Asia William P Davis (right); Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan (center), ONGC CMD Shashi Shanker (extreme left) and Petroleum Secretary M M Kutty (third from left) rejoice

Talking after the MoU, Vice President Asia Pacific EXXONMobil Mr Michael Deal said, “We welcome the opportunity to work with ONGC and apply our collective expertise to be an even bigger part of India’s bright energy future”.

ONGC CMD Mr Shashi Shanker said, “This meaningful partnership with EXXONMobil will be a step towards unlocking value in ONGC PEL offshore blocks, study open acreage areas and enable us to get closer to meeting Country’s energy aspirations”.