India is deepening its commitment to energy innovation through a strategic collaboration with Norway, focusing on deepwater oil and gas exploration alongside carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Following his visit to Norway’s Northern Lights CO2 Terminal in Bergen, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri revealed India’s plans to develop a full-fledged ecosystem for deepwater Exploration and Production (E&P) technologies.
This aligns with India’s upcoming Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) Round 10, one of the world’s largest offshore exploration initiatives covering over 250,000 sq km.
Norway’s Carbon Capture Tech Inspires India’s Energy Transition
The Northern Lights project, led by Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies, is a global benchmark in carbon storage, with capacity for up to 100 million tonnes of CO2.
Its infrastructure allows captured CO2 to be shipped to the west coast of Norway, then piped 110 km offshore and stored 2,600 metres beneath the seabed. Puri emphasized India’s interest in adopting such flexible CCS infrastructure to support its decarbonization goals.
During a roundtable with Bergen’s Offshore Energy Cluster, Puri discussed subsea operations, well services, and advanced drilling technologies with companies including DNV Group, TechnipFMC, and Equinor India.
Norway’s expertise, he noted, complements India’s push to boost domestic hydrocarbon production—particularly from key deepwater basins like Krishna-Godavari, Mahanadi, and Cauvery.
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