The Hindu Business Line : ONGC to deliver deepwater gas in April, says Raha

OIL and Natural Gas Corporation will deliver the country's first deepwater gas in April 2006, according to its Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Subir Raha.

The gas production from the G-1 and GS-15 blocks of Sagar Samridhi deepwater field in the Krishna Godavari basin will be to the tune of two mmscmd.

The news about striking deepwater gas in the G-1 and GS-15 structures was announced in May. At that time, ONGC had announced two strikes in Sagar Samriddhi deepwater exploration campaign. The G-1 and GS-15 structures were significant as the ONGC locations where India's first digital oil fields were being developed.

"We will deliver India's first deepwater gas in April. ONGC is planning to drill 12-16 more wells during the current fiscal at Sagar Samriddhi. We are also ready to commence two new production fields on the western coast - Delta-1 and Delta-33, both shallow fields in Mumbai High. Delta-1 will commence production in January 2006 with 3,000 barrels of oil a day while D-33 is expected to start production by December 2006," Mr Raha said.

The D-33 block is yet to be officially ratified, but indications are that it will be good for 15,000 barrels of oil and two mmscmd of gas a day, he said. The oil and gas major's capital expenditure that stood at Rs 10,400 crore last year is all set to be repeated this year, Mr Raha said.

One of the ongoing projects is the phased replacement of the 4,000-km subsea pipeline laid in the mid-70s, contract for which has been awarded to the L&T-Global Offshore consortium and will cost ONGC $400 million in the 2005-08 period.

Meanwhile, ONGC is banking on erecting a floating production and storage offloading (FPSO) platform at Mumbai High to get it back to normal production schedules. Full restoration by March 2006 can be a reality if the FPSO platform can be successfully commissioned, Mr Raha said.

According to Mr N.K. Mitra, Director, Offshore, ONGC, the FPSO platform has to be tailor-made to suit Mumbai High's peculiar requirements; expressions of interest have been invited before coming out with a global tender. The platform will cost around $100,000 a day and will need to be working for 5-6 months for Mumbai High to regain its original production level of 2,65,000 barrels of oil a day, he said.

ONGC has on August 27 completed the subsea pipeline restoration work between Mumbai High and Uran. This will enhance oil production by 60,000 barrels a day taking production to 2,13,200 barrels a day and gas to 8.5 mmscmd. After the accident at Mumbai High last month, production had fallen to 1,45,000 barrels of oil and 6 mmscmd.

Meanwhile, ONGC has floated tenders for the removal of some 8,000 tonnes of debris - a job that is expected to take up to 18 months and cost upwards of Rs 60 crore. The destroyed platform will also need to be decommisioned.

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