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After numerous delays, state-owned upstream major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is finally set to start commercial crude oil production from its prolific deep-water block KG-DWN-98/2 from May and gas output from May of next year, the oil major’s director (offshore) Pankaj Kumar said at the India Energy Week here.
ONGC plans to start oil production from the Bay of Bengal block with volumes of 10,000 to 12,000 barrels per day (bpd), which will be ramped up to peak production level of 45,000 bpd in two to three months. This peak production estimate is lower than the earlier estimate of over 77,000 bpd. Kumar attributed the downward revision to geological challenges.
Along with crude oil, around 2 million standard cubic metres per day (mscmd) of natural gas will also flow, but commercial production is likely to begin only in may 2024, Kumar said. The peak gas production from the block is seen at around 10 mscmd, down from the earlier estimate of 12.75 mscmd.
The project was launched in 2018 and as per the original timeline, gas output was to start in June 2019, while oil production was to begin from March 2020. These production timelines were initially delayed due to problems with awarding contract works, which was followed by pandemic-related global supply chain disruptions hitting the project timelines further.
The project is part of ONGC’s efforts to arrest and reverse the decline in its crude oil production and enhance its natural gas output. The government has been pushing ONGC—India’s major national oil company—to increase production. India is among the top oil and gas consumers in the world but depends on imports to meet over 85 per cent of its oil requirement and around half of its gas needs.
