The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) may decide to bid for exploratory rights in the Kerala-Konkan basin based on the outcome of the re-analysis of the geochemical and geoscience data collected from the region earlier, according to Sushma Rawat, Director (Exploration), ONGC.
The Corporation may participate in the ninth round of the bidding process under the New Exploration Licensing Policy once the results are encouraging, Rawath told media persons on the sidelines of the Biennial International Conference of the Society of Petroleum Geophysicists.
She said that the earlier efforts to find gas and oil in the basin had not yielded the desired results.
As many as 19 exploratory wells were drilled in the basin earlier. The seismic data collected from the operations and seabed will be analysed again to find out whether the region would yield any fresh results. Oil and gas remain elusive so far, she said.
The CH-1-1 well, dug by the Corporation off the Cochin area, was terminated in the Basalt/Trachyte section as the results were not encouraging. During the exploration, a well was dug anywhere to a depth of 4 km searching for hydrocarbon presence. The well at Kollam also had to be abandoned due to poor results. The results of the exploration at Kasaragod too were far from encouraging, she said.
The drilling can begin in three years after the Corporation wins the bid for the Kerala-Konkan basin. The Corporation will shortly begin the drilling exercise in the Gulf of Mannar and Kanyakumari region, she said.
Oil India Limited, another public sector company, had won the exploratory rights in the Off-Kollam area earlier, she added.
The Society of Petroleum Geophysicists (SPG) is holding its 14th Biennial International Conference and Expo here from November 3 to 5. The conference seeks to address the complex challenges of balancing Energy Affordability, Energy Reliability, and Environmental Sustainability, often referred to as the ‘Energy Trilemma’. The current edition of the conference SPG 2023, is been convened to explore the pivotal theme of the conference “New Age Geosciences: A Fulcrum for Energy Trilemma”.