State-run oil and gas producer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has signed a Technical Services Contract (TSC) with global energy major BP to improve production from its flagship Mumbai High field and other offshore assets located in India’s western offshore basin.
The agreement marks a significant step in ONGC’s efforts to arrest production decline from mature offshore fields and unlock additional reserves through advanced reservoir management and enhanced recovery techniques.
Under the contract, BP will provide technical expertise across subsurface modelling, reservoir management, production optimization and the application of advanced technologies aimed at improving recovery rates from ageing fields. The collaboration will cover Mumbai High, India’s largest offshore oil field, along with several other producing assets in the western offshore region.
According to ONGC, the partnership is designed to leverage BP’s global experience in managing mature hydrocarbon assets and maximizing production from complex offshore reservoirs. The initiative forms part of ONGC’s broader strategy to enhance domestic oil and gas output and strengthen India’s energy security.
Mumbai High has been the backbone of India’s offshore oil production for decades, contributing a substantial share of the country’s crude oil output. However, like many mature fields worldwide, production has gradually declined over time, prompting the need for advanced recovery methods and technology-driven interventions.
The technical collaboration will focus on identifying opportunities to improve field performance, optimize existing infrastructure and increase recovery from producing reservoirs. The objective is to extend field life and extract additional hydrocarbons that may otherwise remain unrecovered.
The agreement comes at a time when India is seeking to reduce dependence on imported crude oil by boosting domestic exploration and production. Government and industry stakeholders have emphasized the importance of improving recovery factors from existing fields alongside the development of new discoveries.
Industry experts view the ONGC-BP partnership as an important move towards bringing global best practices and advanced technical capabilities into India’s upstream sector. The collaboration is expected to support production enhancement efforts across some of the country’s most strategically important offshore oil and gas assets.
The contract further strengthens the long-standing relationship between ONGC and BP, which have previously collaborated on various energy sector initiatives, and highlights the growing role of technology partnerships in revitalizing mature hydrocarbon fields.