Indian oil major to significantly expand oil exploration

India's state-owned Oil and Gas Corporation (ONGC) plans to quadruple its exploration and production area by 2025, the country's oil minister said on Thursday

ONGC's future strategy includes increasing the exploration and development area from the current 127,000 square kilometers to 50 square kilometers by 2025, Indian Oil and Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted on Thursday after a tour of ONGC's integrated energy center in Maharatna.

The minister added that the state oil company will also "focus on domestic oil and gas production from green hydrogen and other sources, which will help reduce the fuel import bill"

Fitch Ratings said in a report on ONGC earlier this month that ONGC accounts for about 75% of India's oil and gas production, while its long-term reserve life of 15 years provides visibility into India's future cash flow.

The company's chairman, Subhash Kumar, told local media Tribune this week that the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh has "huge potential for oil and gas exploration

India has been unhappy with its import bill in recent months because its economy and refiners are more sensitive to international crude prices than some other oil importers

Last month, reports emerged that India was seeking to boost domestic oil production by asking ONGC to weigh in on selling a majority stake in two large offshore oil and gas fields

In October, Indian Oil Minister Tarun Kapoor told Reuters that U.