State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and global energy major bp on Thursday signed a new Technical Services Contract (TSC) to enhance hydrocarbon production from ONGC's fields in the Western Offshore Basin, expanding their existing collaboration beyond the flagship Mumbai High asset.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Petroleum Secretary Dr Neeraj Mittal. Under the new contract, bp has been appointed as the Technical Services Provider (TSP) for ONGC's fields across the Western Offshore Basin, one of India's most productive oil and gas regions.
The Western Offshore Basin, comprising 43 blocks, is ONGC's largest hydrocarbon-producing basin and has been a key contributor to India's energy needs for more than four decades. ONGC currently accounts for around 64 per cent of the country's domestic crude oil and natural gas production, making it central to India's energy security.
The agreement marks a significant expansion of the partnership between the two companies, which began with the Technical Services Contract for Mumbai High signed in February 2025. The new arrangement will enable the deployment of advanced technologies, global technical expertise and operational best practices across ONGC's mature offshore assets.
Despite the expanded collaboration, ONGC will retain complete ownership and operational control of all the fields. Under the agreement, bp will work alongside ONGC's multidisciplinary teams to identify and implement targeted interventions across reservoirs, wells and production facilities. The objective is to slow the natural decline in output from ageing fields, improve hydrocarbon recovery, enhance operational efficiency and support sustained production growth.
As per the commercial structure of the contract, bp will receive a fixed fee during the first two years of the agreement. Thereafter, the company will be compensated through a service fee linked to a share of the revenue generated from net incremental hydrocarbon production.
The two companies said the new contract builds on the progress achieved under the Mumbai High collaboration. During the first year of the partnership, ONGC and bp undertook well optimisation, enhanced reservoir surveillance and improvements in reservoir, well and facility management, resulting in moderation of production decline and growth in output.
ONGC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Arun Kumar Singh said the encouraging results achieved at Mumbai High had laid the foundation for expanding the partnership to the wider Western Offshore Basin.
"Building on the encouraging outcomes at Mumbai High, this expanded collaboration will support improved recovery, greater efficiency and sustained production growth," he said.
bp India Chairman and bp Senior Vice President Kartikeya Dube said the company looked forward to leveraging its global expertise to help improve production from the Western Offshore Basin.
"We look forward to bringing bp's global expertise to support enhanced production from the Western Offshore Basin and strengthen India's energy security," he said.
The expanded partnership comes as India seeks to maximise output from its mature oil and gas fields to reduce dependence on imports and strengthen domestic energy production. By combining ONGC's operational experience with bp's technical capabilities, the collaboration aims to improve recovery rates and extend the productive life of some of the country's most strategic offshore hydrocarbon assets.