Oil India aims to explore the green hydrogen valley and wants to do so

 Oil India aims to explore the green hydrogen valley and wants to do so

In New Delhi: Oil India Ltd. (OIL), according to its chairman and managing director (CMD) Ranjit Rath, is an integrated energy company that is looking to invest in a variety of clean energy sectors and that also has plans to establish green hydrogen valleys and explore Himachal Pradesh's geothermal potential. OIL CMD Ranjit Rath said in an interview with Mint that the business has collaborated with IIT Guwahati to establish a green hydrogen valley in the northeast and is in discussions with IIT Bhubaneshwar for another project of this kind in Odisha. He said that the firm is now focusing on deeper drilling and exploration with aspirations to reach 6,500 meters in its conventional exploration and production (E&P) division.

When do you see becoming a wholly energy-focused corporation with your significant net zero investment plans?

A. We already operate as an energy provider. Now that we have purchased NRL, we are present along the whole hydrocarbon value chain. Due to the purchase of NRL Refinery, we now have an upstream portfolio, a production, and a downstream presence. We haven't stopped there, either. I can see farther downstream if I look. We just gave our approval for an integrated refinery/petrochemical plant that would produce 360 ktpa of polypropylene. In addition to this, NRL is working on a 2G ethanol plant based on bamboo that will be mechanically finished in December 2023 or March 2024. So, we are already an integrated energy firm with solar and wind portfolios. After having stated this, we have pledged that Oil India Limited and NRL would accomplish their net zero commitment by 2040 and have linked to the government of India's objectives and COP 26 pledges. And we have already set aside around 25,000 crore in the budget for this project.

This also applies to our attempts to produce 2G ethanol, a kind of bioethanol. our efforts to decrease gas flaring by setting up a system for removing natural gas. and supplying it to the national gas grid as well as the northeast gas grid. This also entails replacing the diesel component with natural gas in our operating region.

This also includes the portion of renewable energy and the Assam government's 640 MW of solar capacity. 25 MW is the initial step. Additionally, we are negotiating a 150 megawatt solar project with the government of Himachal Pradesh. With the government of Odisha, we are also discussing solar.

Is the state government investing in any of these projects?

A local joint venture with a state government organization exists in Assam. That is the paradigm in Himachal Pradesh. We firmly think that local entity participation will aid in our ability to get momentum in the state and facilitate the power purchase agreement. As a result, we would constantly work together.

Will you consider inorganic expansion in the field of green energy?

A. Our business focuses mostly on exploration and production. Domestic exploration and production are our main priorities. For Oil India Limited, the renewable will be vertical. It will be a vertical for alternative energy. And our interest in renewable energy is to utilize it to disrupt our net zero goal and to move the power for green hydrogen. With this framework, the Himachal Pradesh government is allowing us to install 150 MW if the Assam government has already built a narrative for 25 MW to 620 MW. We are considering it for the time being, in my opinion. As a result, even though you should never say never, as of right now, this is your portfolio.

What plans do you have for green hydrogen?

A letter of award or work order for around 2.4 ktpa (kilo tonne per year) of green hydrogen has already been placed by NRL. As Oil India Limited, our goal is to produce 20 ktpa of green hydrogen over the course of the next five years, using a 50/50 mix of electrolyzer and other technologies. It's a provisional figure. But since you require water, it is thought that 50% of the energy may come from an electrolyzer approach. A water source is an electrolyzer. Because we would have access to water, the Himachal Pradesh government will be helpful in this situation. We will thus have access to water in Assam thanks to the Himachal Pradesh administration.

We are taking part in the hydrogen valley idea as well. Therefore, the administration of the hydrogen valley has plans for roughly seven hydrogen valleys. In order to cooperate or form a partnership for a potential hydrogen valley idea in the northeast, we also joined with IIT Bhubaneswar. However, neither partnership has yet materialized.

We have filed our proposal for north east for hydrogen valley. As part of the hydrogen valley, the premise is that a research institution would front-end it, and they require partnerships for industrial partners. I believe we have talked to IIT Bhubaneshwar about Odisha in this regard. We have shown interest in working together as an industry partner.

What is your capex for this fiscal year?

A. This year, we plan to spend around 7,500 crores on upstream capital expenditures and another 7,000 to 7,500 crores on downstream capital expenditures.

Q. Going back to your E&P company, how much are you now producing?

A. We performed roughly 3.2 million metric hours last year. That travels to Digboi, NRL, and Guwahati in addition to NRL since Oil India operates the nation's oldest pipeline and we kind of combine the oil from the ONGC field with our own petroleum. In some circumstances, it also travels to Bongaigau. In the north east, this 3.2 million metric tons is used.

How many work programs are currently active and running?

A. We now have 29 OALP blocks as part of our upstream effort, and we have around 60,000 square kilometers of space open for investigation. All are engaged. We have mining leases covering roughly 5,000 square kilometers, mostly in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer basin and the northeastern region of the nation. In addition, we have territories covered by the Open Acreage Licensing Policy.

The OALP or NELP blocks that we now have would operate in a certain order. We must first do the collecting, processing, and analysis of 2D or 3D seismic data. You might locate potential locations—mostly drilling locations—using API seismic data. We drilled roughly 38 wells during FY22. We drilled for roughly 45 minutes during FY23. We want to dig perhaps 70 to 75 wells this year and then the next year. Both this year and next, there will be 70–75 wells.

Deep wells are being planned or have already been drilled by Oil India. as we were previously considering depths of 3,000 to 4,000 meters. We are now looking at a depth of 6,500 meters. 6500 meters is a significant distance by any measure in this region of the world. Therefore, we have previously tried and are capable of ascending to 5900 meters. There are more besides this. We have a number of drilling wells below the region that are ready to be drilled with extended reach drilling. To drill with extended reach drilling, start here from a single pad, and then expand outward in the direction of the arrow.