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India-Norway sign 5 agreements on  hydrocarbons cooperation

New Delhi : Sep 02, 2005

The visit to Norway of the Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Panchayati Raj Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, culminated with the signing of five bilateral agreements yesterday evening in the presence of his Norwegian counterpart, Ms Thorhild Widvey. The agreements epitomise the consensual view in India and Norway to promote bilateral relations at three levels. First, to benefit from the Norway's achievements in the organisation and functioning of its technical regulator, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, as also to obtain the benefit of research and technologies developed in Norway, particularly in the areas of deep sea exploration and exploration of complex geological formations. Other areas where India would benefit from Norwegian experience pertain to health, safety and the environment (HSE) which has become an area of priority concern following the recent fire at Bombay High. India and Norway have also agreed that Norway's excellent training facilities in the technical and management areas of the hydrocarbon sector would be increasingly utilised by Indian organisations.

The second level of cooperation identified by the two sides pertains to increased participation by the companies of the two countries in each other's exploration and production and downstream projects. During his visit, the Indian Petroleum Minister made a fervent plea to Norwegian companies to actively participate in India's NELP rounds. At the same time, the Indian and Norwegian Petroleum Ministers agreed to cooperate bilaterally and, where required with Russian companies, in the development of hydrocarbon resources in the largely unexplored Barent's Sea which is believed to have very substantial resources.

The third level of cooperation is to jointly bid for projects in third countries. Both Indian and Norwegian companies are presently active in areas of common interest such as the Gulf, Central Asia and the Caspian Sea region, West Africa and Latin America. The Ministers of the two countries and their oil executives believe that Indo-Norwegian cooperation in these areas would significantly enhance the quality and effectiveness of their proposals.

Details of the Agreements finalised in Oslo yesterday are provided in the following paragraphs.

The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) of India and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate have entered into a broad MOU to enhance institutional cooperation as also to pursue interaction in the areas of research and development, safety and training.

The second agreement was between ONGC and the Norwegian private upstream company, Norske Hydro. In terms of this agreement, the two companies have agreed to cooperate in third countries, particularly in West Asia where they are already active. An agreement to become partners in specific deep water blocks of Cuba is being finalised.

ONGC have also entered into three agreements with Norwegian organisations in the area of research and development. In association with the Hyderabad-based National Geo-Physical Research Institute, ONGC signed an agreement with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology to pursue cooperation in the area of Reservoir Modeling for Enhanced Oil Recovery using Fractals and 4D Seismic. Other areas envisaged in the agreement include cooperation in the on-shore and offshore areas in respect of enhanced oil recovery and to develop the knowledge base for reservoir surveillance.

Again, ONGC entered into an agreement with ROXAR Software Solutions to cooperate in the area of the integration of Real-Time Data Monitoring Systems with Log Modelling and Geological Model Update processes.

Finally, the ONGC entered into an agreement with SINTEF to collaborate in the areas of Occupational Health, Safety and the Environment.

After the signing ceremony, the Indian and Norwegian Ministers noted that these agreements heralded a new era in Indo-Norwegian cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector and expressed confidence that this cooperation would yield considerable benefits to the two countries.

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