ONGC is targeting 2018 to start production from its east coast oil and gas block, which is adjacent to Reliance Industries Ltd-operated KG-D6 block. This was stated by ONGC Chairman and Managing Director, D K Sarraf, when addressing the shareholders at the company’s 21st annual general meeting here.

The public sector hydrocarbons major has been facing flak from the Government because of delay in bringing the east coast finds in KG-DWN-98/2 block on stream. In fact, the Ministry for Petroleum & Natural gas has been questioning the company on delay, while private players in the vicinity have already started producing.

The area has been in the news because of the allegations made by ONGC that there was a shift in reservoir which could have resulted in RIL drawing gas from its find. The two have now asked Texas-based DeGolyer and MacNaughton (D&M), an international petroleum consultant, to assess ONGC’s claims.

In his address to shareholders, Sarraf that the management was committed towards expeditious development of the company’s oil and gas reserves. Out of 15 prospective projects taken up for development, seven projects are already complete and 8 are under various stages of implementation.

“Out of the other major planned projects, management is especially focused on the development of Daman and KG-DWN-98/2,” he said. Peak Production from Daman, a cluster of several discoveries in western offshore, envisaged at about 8.5 MMSCMD. It expects to start production by July, 2016.

In terms of production ONGC remained the largest producer of crude oil and natural gas in the country in 2014 fiscal. Production from its own domestic fields was maintained at 45.53 million tonne of oil equivalent (mmtoe) against 46.11 mmtoe in fiscal 2013. The total Oil plus Oil-equivalent Gas (O+OEG) production of ONGC Group in fiscal 2014 (including ONGC Videsh and ONGC's share in Production Sharing Contracts) has been 59.2 mmtoe against 58.73 in fiscal 2013.

Sarraf said that the company’s major oil and gas producing fields are ageing and showing natural decline, but with Improved Oil Recovery (IOR) and Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) schemes applied in these fields till Fiscal 2014, a cumulative incremental gain of 87.41 million tonne has been achieved.