Oil India Limited (OIL) epitomises the growth and development of the petroleum industry in India. OIL has large exploratory & producing acreage in India. The company is the leading producer of crude oil & natural gas in Upper Assam Basin and also produces natural gas and heavy crude oil from Rajasthan. The company has 64 operated acreages in India which includes 60 onshore blocks covering an area of 49,868 sq.km in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh and 4 offshore blocks covering an area of 13,230 sq.km in Kerela-Konkan, Andaman and Krishna-Godavari Offshore areas. As on 1st April 2022, the Company has Remaining Recoverable Volume (O+OEG) of 191.31 MMTOE in domestic sector. Now its E&P efforts are not limited to India but have crossed its borders to have global footprint in 7 countries covering an area of 44,300 sq.km with activities ongoing in 10 projects.
Starting from exploration to field development followed by reservoir management & monitoring, OIL is engaged in all areas of E&P cycle. OIL's in-house field crews are involved in acquisition of 2D, 3D, 2D-3C, 3D-3C & 4D seismic data with modern technology and latest equipment in the most efficient fashion to meet the diverse exploration and development challenges. OIL has extended its exploration endeavour towards the frontier areas having extreme logistics and complex geological setup. In the difficult terrain of Mizoram, innovative Seisloop 3D approach for acquiring 3D seismic data is applied along with a number of geoscientific studies including geological mapping by industry experts, advanced geochemical survey and thermal imaging to identify the hydrocarbon prospect.
OIL has a long history of exploration and production of hydrocarbons in the fold-belts of Upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. In this direction, the Company has continuously inducted new methods and technologies to further its endeavour towards accurate mapping and imaging of the complex geology of the fold-belt.
A recent addition in this regard is high density-long offset seismic survey for better illumination of complex geology. OIL shall be the first E&P Company in India to induct cable-less seismic data acquisition technology to meet the upcoming challenges of inaccessibility and extreme logistics for the exploration of these frontier areas.
OIL is equipped with state–of–art Seismic Imaging & Modelling Centre – BHUDRISHTI, for Imaging, Modelling, Inversion and analysis of seismic and other geoscientific data at its Fields' Headquarters at Duliajan. The centre is platformed on a high-end High Performance Computing System landscape integrated seamlessly to a wide spectrum of robust geophysical application software suits for achieving excellence in delivering quality results through the collective knowledge and wisdom of group of young and experienced geo-scientists.
OIL possesses state - of - the - art Virtual Reality Centre - KALPLOK for carrying out analysis and interpretation of geo-scientific & engineering data and models, generating synoptic views of data from multiple sources & supporting well planning in collaborative 3D - Immersive environment. The centre leverages powerful visualization & collaborative environment for creating & enabling valuable insights for better decision making and mitigation of exploration and development risks.
In R&D front OIL has recently established state-of-the-art Petroleum Biotechnology Centre known as “Jaivalaya”. In recent past the company had filed two International Patent applications for “System and method for screening solvents for dissolving tank Bottom sludge” and a method for preventing deposition in Oil wells with Packers”.
The adoption of systematic reservoir management & monitoring practices through fit-for-purpose technology has enabled OIL to produce significant oil and gas from ageing and mature fields. These well planned and monitored EOR/IOR schemes including water flooding, water injection and polymer flooding increased the recovery up to 35-50%. The encouraging results of the pilot time-lapse (4D) seismic study in Dikom field steer the expansion of such study over other producing reservoirs. OIL has commenced 3D - 3C seismic studies over various producing fields to identify by-passed hydrocarbons and hence enhanced production and reserves as well. OIL has started a collaborative research project with Harriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK, for improving oil recovery in ageing fields by carbonated water recovery.
OIL has taken a number of initiatives for exploration and exploitation of unconventional hydrocarbons and has ventured into shale resources and CBM energy options. OIL had acquired 20% non-operated stake in a liquid rich shale assets in the Denver-Julesburg Basin in Colorado, USA in 2012. The asset was divested in 2021 due to consistent poor performance. The proactive consultancy study suggests potential of shale gas in the OIL's operational areas in Upper Assam in Barail shale. Subsequent to the announcement of the Shale Gas Policy by DGH, OIL geared up its initiatives and a dedicated multi - disciplinary team is engaged for the feasibility study and identification of leverage areas for shale gas exploration & exploitation.
OIL owns 11 Drilling Rigs, 11 Work-over Rigs to support its drilling operations besides using Charter-Hired Rigs to meet its work programmes. OIL possesses high-end AC Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) drilling rigs to ensure drilling effectiveness and rig safety, while reducing energy consumption-maintenance & expenditures.
Apart from that, OIL owns state-of-the-art Wireline Logging Units with downhole logging tools to meet its logging requirements for exploration & production of hydrocarbons.