India’s First-Ever Offshore Oil Cleanup: A Big Step for Energy Safety

India has completed its first-ever offshore decommissioning project in the Tapti fields, marking a major milestone for the country's energy sector. The Panna-Mukta and Tapti (PMT) joint venture, consisting of Shell (BGEPIL), Reliance Industries, and ONGC, successfully executed the removal of offshore structures, infield pipelines, and the plugging and abandonment of 38 wells.

Offshore decommissioning is the process of safely dismantling and removing oil and gas infrastructure from the ocean once it reaches the end of its operational life. This includes plugging wells, removing platforms, pipelines, and other equipment, and restoring the seabed to minimize environmental impact.

The process is complex and requires careful planning, engineering expertise, and regulatory oversight to ensure safety and sustainability

This project in Tapti fields sets a benchmark for responsible decommissioning, aligning with India's "Make in India" vision while enhancing local capabilities.

The PMT JV, operator of the Tapti fields under a production sharing contract with the Government of India, comprises of ONGC with a 40% participating interest, and RIL and BG Exploration & Production India Ltd (BGEPIL-Shell) with 30% each.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) handled offshore execution, while Chowgule Shipyard (CLSPL) managed onshore dismantling at its Ratnagiri facility.

The initiative also played a pioneering role in shaping India's regulatory framework for offshore decommissioning, developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), and Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD).

Nipun Pradhan, Managing Director, BGEPIL and GM Shell Upstream India, said, “The safe and successful completion of the Tapti offshore project is a landmark moment for India’s offshore energy sector. This project sets a new benchmark for responsible decommissioning, made possible by global expertise, strong collaboration, and an unwavering commitment to safety and sustainability. Shell is proud to be part of this historic journey alongside our partners Reliance, ONGC, and the Government of India.”

“The safe and responsible offshore decommissioning by the PMT JV marks a significant step forward for India’s energy sector. From the outset, the JV partners worked tirelessly to strengthen local supply chains and enhance the technical and safety capabilities of Indian contractors especially for offshore dismantling activities. This project has successfully delivered on the Indian Government’s ambition of ‘Make and Break in India’,” said Sanjay Barman Roy, President, E&P, Reliance Industries Limited.

Pankaj Kumar, Director (Production), ONGC, remarked, “This first-of-its-kind large-scale offshore decommissioning underscores ONGC’s commitment to responsible energy practices. The project’s complexity, especially its proximity to ONGC’s live assets demanded strategic planning, precise execution, and utmost focus on safety. It marks a defining moment in India’s energy landscape and sets a strong foundation for the next chapter in offshore infrastructure transformation.”

Infosys and Shell Join Hands for Green Data Centres

Infosys and Shell Collaborate on Immersion Cooling Services to Enable Sustainability-First Data Centers

Companies to leverage Shell Immersion Cooling Fluid and Infosys Topaz to accelerate sustainable AI

India's digital services and consulting giant, Infosys, has announced its collaboration with Shell New Energies UK Ltd (“Shell”), an international energy company, to accelerate adoption of immersion cooling services for data centers.

Through this strategic engagement, Infosys and Shell will bring together their capabilities in Digital and Energy, respectively, and an eco-system of partners, to create an integrated offering for green data centers. This will be achieved by leveraging Shell Immersion Cooling Fluid, a synthetic, single-phase immersion cooling fluid designed to maximise the energy efficiency and performance of data servers and IT components, and Infosys Topaz, an AI-first set of services, solutions and platforms using generative AI technologies.

According to recent industry estimates, data centers are responsible for up to 1.5 percent of global electricity consumption and 1 percent of global CO2 emissions. AI is expected to accelerate data center demand and AI workloads will significantly increase both energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

Immersion cooling technology claims to potentially show up to 30% lower CO2 emissions and 48% reduction in energy footprint productionii. Shell and Infosys will test this, leveraging both Shell’s immersion cooling and Infosys’ digital solutions. Following the pilot at Shell’s and Infosys' data centers, the companies intend to extend the offer to other customers globally.

Infosys, which turned carbon neutral 30 years ahead of 2050, the timeline set by the Paris Agreement, realized the business imperative of reducing carbon intensity, and has tailored many solutions that enable clients in their decarbonization journey. Shell aims to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050. Together, the companies see the ability to leverage digital technologies to monitor and adjust immersion cooling technology to further cut energy consumption and lower carbon dioxide emissions.

Ashiss Kumar Dash, EVP & Global Head – Sustainability, Services, Utilities, Resources and Energy, Infosys, said, "In our joint efforts with Shell, we aim to create a more sustainable future. This collaboration will leverage AI based digital solutions that will create environmentally responsible data centers that can manage high computing loads with optimized hardware. It is also critical that future digital and physical solutions are created with a view to make AI more sustainable and scalable. This collaboration exemplifies our unwavering commitment to helping organizations achieve their sustainability goals while optimizing operational efficiency."

Aysun Akik, VP New Business Development and Global Key Accounts Downstream & Renewables, Shell Lubricants, said, “We believe our immersion cooling technology can play a critical role in reducing data center energy use and helping customers to deliver on their sustainability commitments. Based on Shell’s proprietary gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology, Shell Immersion Cooling Fluids can help cut costs, boost performance and reduce the environmental footprint of data center operations as part of an integrated solution. Working with Infosys to supplement our technology with digital solutions would bring complete data center optimization toolkits to customers, and we are excited about the prospect of helping them decarbonize.” 

Shell Announces Top 3 Shortlisted Startups for the #makethefuture Accelerator India

Shell today announced the top three shortlisted finalists for the #makethefuture Accelerator India 2017. The national level competition received a positive response with applications from over 50 bright energy start-ups. These start-ups were evaluated by an esteemed jury comprising of senior leaders from Shell on parameters such as innovation, sustainability, disruptive nature of entry and impact to India.

Launched in India for the first time, the #makethefuture Accelerator aims to encourage and accelerate the development of bright ideas that can help provide more and cleaner energy solutions. The top three shortlisted start-ups are:

• Carbon Masters India Pvt. Ltd (Bangalore) – Builds a lower carbon, cost effective renewable energy alternative called ‘Carbon Lites’ – bottled bio CNG product - that can be used in commercial kitchens instead of LPG

• Smart Joules Pvt. Ltd. (New Delhi) - Delivers energy cost savings to India's buildings and factories by transforming their energy infrastructure by installing their equipment called ‘De Joule’. Its first project has generated more than 28% annual energy savings, and has won multiple awards including the first prize in India’s National Energy Conservation Awards and CII’s National Award for Excellence in Energy Management

• Graviky Labs Pvt. Ltd. (Bangalore) - Captures air pollution using a retrofitted technology called ‘Kaalink’ to repurpose vehicular emissions into art ink

Commenting on the selection of the shortlisted finalists, Mr. Nitin Prasad, Chairman, Shell Companies in India, said: “Commenting on the selection of the shortlisted finalists, Mr. Nitin Prasad, Chairman, Shell Companies in India, said: “We are delighted with the enthusiasm and the number of responses from various enthusiastic start-ups. Many of the ideas were truly thought provoking and we are grateful to the entrepreneurs for sharing these with us. Shell believes that collaboration is key to finding energy solutions for the future and the quality of applications received only reinforces our belief in the bright young minds of India. The jury had a tough time selecting the top three start-ups. We congratulate the shortlisted teams. These ideas are not just innovative but have the potential to solve complex energy challenges. We look forward to provide these energy start-ups with a platform to demonstrate their ability in bringing those ideas to life.”

Malena Cutuli, Group Head of Integrated Brand Communications & Capability at Shell, said: “Shell recognises that some of the best ideas come from outside our business, which is why we are helping some of the brightest innovators to accelerate the development of their bright energy ideas. We look forward to celebrating our support of entrepreneurs through our #makethefuture campaign, which will come to life at the inauguration of Shell Technology Centre in Bengaluru. I am optimistic that the innovations by these inspirational young entrepreneurs who have really immersed themselves in the conversation around the global energy future will inspire us in the most significant way. I personally congratulate them and look forward to the launch event.”

The top three finalists will attend Make the Future Singapore, a festival of ideas and innovation for Asia , and meet with Shell Eco-marathon students, like minded innovators from the region and senior Shell leaders. They will be invited to the inauguration of Shell Technology Centre Bangalore (STCB) to participate in the accelerator event and pitch their ideas to an esteemed jury including senior leaders from Shell on March 30, 2017. Senior leaders from the start-up space in India, energy engaged entrepreneurs, Shell leadership and media will be present during the event. The winner will be felicitated by the Chief Guest at the inauguration of Shell Technology Centre in Bangalore on March 31, 2017. The winning start-up will be awarded prize money of ₹10 lakh along with mentorship by senior Shell and industry leaders that will help build a strong value proposition and help enable them to access funding to scale.

Image : Nitin Prasad, Chairman, Shell Companies in India

DrivoJoy Partners With Lubricants Brand Shell To Deliver New Age Services

DrivoJoy, one of India’s first two-wheeler doorstep servicing startup, announced today a new strategic partnership with Shell, world's largest lubricants brand. The alliance between the two aims to bring about change in the 2-wheeler servicing industry by bringing the best services and products to a customer’s doorstep. This partnership will provide a comprehensive solution to make the two wheeler service industry reliable, convenient and affordable. It also marks Shell’s entry into the organised two wheeler servicing sector as a lubricants partner.

With the help of this partnership, DrivoJoy will be able to provide their customers with high end lubricants and necessary products from Shell. Shell will also offer customized set of training skills to DrivoJoy’s mechanics and help them deal with increased levels of situational awareness and formulate streamlined responses to incidents.

Meanwhile, DrivoJoy will help Shell in expanding its digital footprints by communicating to customers about Shell being their exclusive lubricants partner across their website, app and other digital platforms. By educating the broad base of customers about their various lubricants and its benefits, Shell plans to witness an improvement in the sales of their oils and other range of products. Shell and DrivoJoy will also be involved in cross promotional activies for brand awareness and engagement.

Aman Singhal, CEO and Co-Founder of DrivoJoy, commented, “Shell is arguably the biggest, most trusted brand in the lubricants industry, and having more than 80% of our customers prefer Shell over other brands only reinforces this fact. Periodically changing the engine oil is vital for longevity of 2-wheelers and hence in the interest of consumer awareness around best practices and recommendations, we're deeply integrating Shell's range of products and services with our supply chain. This collaboration will help us in our endeavor to provide best in class service to our consumers and make the entire 2-wheeler servicing process more fluid, simple and enriching. We collectively aim to take a leap in customer outreach and turn this association into a mutually benefiting one. Along with training programs and loyalty schemes specially designed for DrivoJoy mechanics, this alliance will also engender several other opportunities towards unification of the 2-wheeler after sales ecosystem."

Neeraj Bhatia, Chief Marketing Officer, Shell Lubricants said, “At Shell Lubricants, we are committed towards developing collaborations that help us deliver greater value to our customers and we are happy to partner with Drivojoy for this endeavour. Digital is the new market space and this association not only provides an exciting platform for the brand to showcase our technologically advanced products and services, but also gives us an opportunity to extend our skill training modules to mechanics. We have always believed that mechanics are an important stakeholder in the service value chain. We hope a partnership like this will help us strengthen our position while extending our digital footprint.”

DrivoJoy, which launched their services in August 2015, is presently servicing over 1000 bikes/month and has been witnessing 30% MOM growth. The company has already served 8000+ users in the short period since its inception.

Shell has been an established fuels and lubricants partner for leading market players across the globe. With a formidable track record globally, Shell’s commitment towards excellence extends over 70 years with dedication to research and development of excellent products and services to deliver cutting edge technology and outstanding service to its consumers.

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