SOCAR, India's ONGC and MRPL agree to cooperate on oil, LNG supplies

BAKU. Feb 17 (Interfax) - The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) has agreed to cooperate with India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) on supplying crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) and trading oil products, ONGC said in a press release on Friday.

The three companies "signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore strategic opportunities in the energy sector on February 12, 2025" at India Energy Week 2025, ONGC said.

"The MoU outlines collaboration in key areas, including the supply of crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), the sale and supply of petroleum products, exploring trading opportunities and capacity building through knowledge exchange," the company said.

"This strategic partnership will further strengthen ONGC's presence in Azerbaijan's oil and gas sector, particularly in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline," the company said.

The MoU will help ONGC and MRPL expand "their footprint in the global energy market, fostering deeper ties between India and Azerbaijan in the field of energy security and cooperation," ONGC said.

ONGC Videsh has a 2.95% stake in the ACG project and 3.1% stake in the BTC oil pipeline. ONGC Videsh, which primarily explores and develops oil and gas fields outside of India, has stakes in 32 oil and gas projects in 15 countries. It is the second largest energy company in India by reserves and production after parent ONGC.

MRPL is a subsidiary of ONGC that was founded in 1988. MRPL has design capacity for 15 million tonnes per year and is the only oil refinery in India with two hydrocracking units that produce premium high cetane diesel fuel. The refinery also has a polypropylene plant with capacity of 440,000 tonnes per year.