Reliance signs agreement with BP, ONGC to pursue oil, gas exploration in Saurashtra basin block

India's Reliance Industries Ltd. entered into a joint operating agreement with state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. and BP Exploration (Alpha) Ltd. to pursue oil and gas exploration in block GS-OSHP-2022/2 located off the western coast in the Saurashtra basin, Reliance said July 29.

"Parties will pursue exploration operation in the block pursuant to the terms of the award of the block," Reliance said in a statement.

BP's signing of an exploration licensing deal in India, as part of a consortium with ONGC and Reliance, makes it the only international company to secure upstream contracts in the country, potentially whetting the appetite of more global energy companies to participate in future bidding rounds.

BP told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, April 15 that it had won the contract for a new exploration license under the consortium consisting of ONGC, holding a 40% stake, Reliance with a 30% stake and BP with the remaining 30% stake for block GS-OSHP-2022/2 in the Saurashtra Basin as part of the ninth round of the Open Acreage Licensing Policy, which is a part of India's Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy.

Oil ministry officials said they had received 60 bids for OALP IX, under which 28 blocks, spread over 136,596 sq km, were offered in eight sedimentary basins.

Of the 28 blocks that were offered in that round, 16 were category-1 basins and were already in the production stage, while 12 were category-2 basins, having contingent resources but pending commercial production. No category-3 blocks, which have prospective resources and are awaiting discovery, were offered in the ninth round, according to Energy.

Only overseas company

BP, in partnership with Reliance, had previously secured one block each during the OALP II and OALP VIII bidding rounds, both located in the KG Basin. OALP IX marks the first collaboration between BP, RIL and ONGC in an OALP bidding round.

India's upstream output has been declining at an average annual rate of 1.1% over the past decade due to the natural depletion of mature fields operated by state-run producers, delays in monetizing existing discoveries and a reduced number of new discoveries. However, until the ninth round, overseas interest in exploration bidding rounds was elusive, according to Energy analysts.

Earlier in 2025, India launched the 10th licensing round, OALP X, marking the largest in terms of acreage offered in a single round. OALP X offers 25 blocks with an area of 191,986 sq km and spans 13 sedimentary basins. Of the 25 blocks, six are located in shallow water, six on land, one in deepwater and the remaining in ultra-deepwater areas.

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told the Parliament that the real breakthrough in attracting investments had come from the government's strategic policy interventions and a new exploration approach.

"The revised strategy has enabled aggressive acquisition of seismic data, initiation of both stratigraphic and exploratory drilling, and increased engagement with international exploration partners, several of whom have shown keen interest in the newly accessible frontier blocks," Puri added.

In March, the Parliament granted final approval to amend a decades-old upstream act -- the Oil Fields (Regulation and Development) Act of 1948 -- aiming to broaden the scope of its exploration policy beyond petroleum and natural gas. The amendment also seeks to relax certain regulations to attract investment from private and international participants in the sector.