Chevron and Total Energies are engaged in separate partnership talks with ONGC for upstream projects in India in a sign of growing interest in the country’s exploration sector that has barely received attention from foreign energy firms in recent years, said a report by The Economic Times.

 

While foreign energy companies have not shown much interest in India's energy exploration sector, American company Chevron's senior executives had discussed such opportunities with ONGC last month, the newspapers cited sources as saying. French company Total has formed a technical committee of key executives to explore such opportunities, the report added.

 

ONGC signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in 2019 with Exxon Mobil to receive its expertise and technology for developing resources in offshore blocks. It provided for ONGC and ExxonMobil jointly bidding for exploration assets in India.

 

Chevron had reported its highest profit in six quarters and joined an oil industry stampede to reward investors with share buybacks, as rebounding crude oil prices carried earnings and cash flow to pre-pandemic levels. The company last year slashed spending to allow profits to flow at above $50 a barrel. Lower costs and higher prices generated the highest cash flow in two years, enabling the company to pare debt and resume share repurchases.

 

The company had also outlined a plan, in March, to expand oil and gas production through 2025 without spending significantly more and to limit the pace of growth of its carbon emissions.

 

Oil and gas are trading near multi-year highs as fuel consumption has thrown off pandemic losses and natural gas has soared on weather demand. Opec's decision to carry production curbs into next year has kept oil trading above $70 per barrel. –Tradearabia News Service