Highlights

• ONGC shares surged 7.40% today, extending gains amid strategic partnerships and rising crude prices
• Deepwater collaboration with Reliance aims to optimize offshore operations and reduce costs.
• New Indian-flag ethane carriers strengthen ONGC’s logistics and support long-term energy supply security.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (NSE:ONGC) shares surged 7.40% on 28 January 2026, extending a 13.40% gain over the past month. The rally follows the company’s latest strategic updates, including a landmark deepwater partnership with Reliance and new ethane shipping contracts, while broader market optimism is supported by crude oil prices climbing to USD 62 per barrel, up 7.56% over the same period (as per Trading Economics data). Rising oil prices further enhance the revenue outlook for upstream producers like ONGC.

ONGC-Reliance Partnership Aims to Optimize Deepwater Operations

The share price surge coincides with ONGC’s announcement on 28 January 2026 of a strategic agreement with Reliance Industries to share deepwater offshore resources along India’s East Coast, particularly in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin and Andaman offshore. Under this agreement, the two companies will pool infrastructure and operational assets, including processing facilities, drilling rigs, marine vessels, pipelines, and well services.

The collaboration is supported by the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Act, 2025 (ORDA Act 2025), which enables shared infrastructure to improve efficiency in oilfield development.

Key expected outcomes include cost optimization through shared high-value equipment, faster execution by improving access to limited deepwater services, better resource utilization, and enhanced operational resilience via joint emergency response and training capabilities

New Ethane Carriers Expand ONGC’s Strategic Energy Logistics

Further supporting investor optimism, ONGC, through joint ventures with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), Japan, signed shipbuilding contracts with Samsung Heavy Industries for two Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs). These Indian-flag vessels, each with a cargo capacity of 100,000 cubic meters, will support the transportation of approximately 600 KTPA of ethane for ONGC’s subsidiary, OPaL. Delivery is scheduled for FY 2028–29.

This initiative strengthens India’s energy logistics and supply chain, ensuring continuity in petrochemical feedstock transport while supporting national self-reliance in strategic marine energy operations. The move aligns with the Prime Minister’s Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision-2047, reinforcing India’s push toward Atmanirbhar energy infrastructure.

Investor Takeaway

The combination of global crude price recovery, strategic deepwater collaboration with Reliance, and long-term shipping capacity expansion underpins ONGC’s share performance.