BP looks for bigger play in oil exploration

NEW DELHI: BP is looking to widen participation in India's oil and gas exploration sector and is planning to work with partners on new exploration opportunities as govt opens up a larger part of the country's offshore acreage for drilling.BP India chairman Kartikeya Dube told TOI that the company was working with partners to participate in upcoming Open Acreage Licencing Policy (OALP) and Discovered Small Field (DSF) rounds. "I can't answer questions exactly about the future because they are subject to listed company confidentiality. What I can tell you is... we are working with our partners to participate in both of them," Dube said, while declining to give details of future bids.BP has participated with Reliance Industries in DSF round and OALP-10 shallow-water opportunities. It has a partnership with Reliance on east coast and offers technical advisory to ONGC on Mumbai High and Western Offshore.BP's exploration push is alongside its work with ONGC to increase production from mature offshore fields. Dube said the company expects about 60% upside in production at Mumbai High and around 25% at Western Offshore as it works to arrest the decline in output from the fields. BP's technical advisory at the Mumbai High project began in early 2025, while the Western Offshore engagement went live in Aug this year."The way the contracts are organised is (that) every giant field in Mumbai High is about 50 years old. They have a decline and our bit is to basically arrest that decline... to lower the rate of decline," Dube said. "What we have brought is not only technology, which everybody brings, right. But, you have to bring people with the right technical experience. That's what makes a difference."Get the latest Business News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.