Oil and Natural Gas Corporation is planning to store captured carbon dioxide in depleted wells at Gujarat’s Gandhar oilfield, marking its first full-scale Carbon Capture and Storage pilot and a significant step in the company’s decarbonisation strategy.

The pilot project will use two abandoned onshore wells at the Gandhar field to inject around 100 tonnes of carbon dioxide per day into subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs, according to officials. The initiative is aimed at permanently preventing the greenhouse gas from being released into the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide for the project will be captured from nearby industrial units in the Dahej area as well as from ONGC’s own Hazira plant. The gas will then be transported to the Gandhar oilfield and injected underground into depleted reservoirs.

In addition to long-term storage, the pilot will also evaluate the use of carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery. Officials said this approach could help convert a harmful emission into a productive input by improving hydrocarbon recovery from mature fields, while simultaneously reducing the carbon footprint of operations.

The CCS pilot forms part of ONGC’s broader efforts to adopt low-carbon technologies and align its upstream operations with India’s climate and energy transition goals.