ONGC is planning to set up two oil-to-chemical (O2C) plants in India to convert crude oil directly into high-value chemical products as it prepares for energy transition towards opening up new avenues to use crude oil.

To fulfil this objective, the oil and gas producer is collaborating with other entities to explore opportunities in O2C, refining, and petrochemicals, with an intent to set up two greenfield O2C plants in India.

ONGC plans to substantially expand its chemical and petrochemical portfolio from the current 4.2 million tpa to eight million tpa by 2030. The firm already has two subsidiaries, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals and ONGC Petro-Additions at Mangalore in Karnataka and Dahej in Gujarat, respectively, which are engaged in the diversification plan for the oil to the petrochemical sector.

ONGC will invest Rs one lakh crore by 2030 on energy transition projects as it targets net zero carbon emissions by 2038, including Scope-I and Scope-II. The firm is planning to scale up its renewable portfolio to 10 GW by 2030. It already has five GW of projects planned in Rajasthan and is scouting for a similar capacity, and would also explore wind farms. 

This is in light of the fact that the increased uptake of alternative drive technologies for commercial vehicles is likely to abate demand for fossil fuels. According to International Energy Agency (IEA), the industry is projected to contribute over a third of the growth in oil demand by 2030.

Crude oil-to-chemicals (COTC) technology enables the production of chemicals exceeding 70 percent to 80 percent of the barrel producing chemical feedstock as against 10 percent in a non-integrated refinery complex.