OIL inks MoU with Houston Univ to strengthen reserves base

The Dollar Business Bureau

Oil India Limited (OIL) has inked an MoU with the University of Houston to strengthen its existing reserves base and increase oil recovery from its ageing oil fields. 

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday signed the agreement with University of Houston CMD (Oil) Utpal Bora.

Pradhan said the agreement will help with the pilot study of CO2 capture technology application in Assam oil fields. “Innovation, institutional hand-holding and scientific temperament is the way ahead for oil and gas sector's growth. If there is (a) good strategy, innovative technology and willpower, a good ecosystem can be formed that will help in more oil recovery from the oilfields," Pradhan said. 

The key objective of this MoU is to collaborate in areas of oil recovery and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) through increasing production capacity from matured fields, improving drilling and well intervention practices, seismic interpretation and reservoir characterisation studies, and unconventional hydrocarbon studies. 

"I hope that the benefits of this partnership between these two institutions would trickle down to the Indian E&P sector and help increase our domestic production of oil and gas, thereby strengthening India's energy mix and securing India's energy needs to fuel the desired economic growth in the medium to long term," Pradhan said. 

This agreement will also augment Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s target of reducing import dependency of oil and gas by 10% by 2022. 

"OIL is also in talks with NRG (NRG Energy Inc.), a leading power company in the US and world leader in de-carbonisation, who along with its partners completed construction on the world's largest post-combustion carbon capture system on-budget and on-schedule for using it for EOR project," OIL spokesperson said. 

"NRG can help OIL to assess CO2 availability from the nearby industry sources and support as well as advice viability of Carbon Capture and Sequestration pilot project," the spokesperson said.