ONGC has sought the Government's special permission to carry out additional exploratory work in its discovered East Coast block to assess the full potential of the area which has both oil and gas.
This has been sought to fast-track monetisation (bringing to production) of its East Coast discoveries. ONGC has made a cluster (Northern Discovery Area) of its NELP block (KG-DWN-98/2) discoveries in the Krishna-Godavari Basin in conjunction with smaller nomination field discoveries (G-4) in the area. ONGC's NELP KG block sits next to Reliance Industries Ltd operated prolific D6 block.
"We feel the need to drill at least six wells with an outlay of about Rs 500 crore in the NELP portion of the Northern Discovery Area," a senior ONGC official told
"At present, we have a nascent idea of how much we can produce from the area, but before submitting the final field development plan (FDP) to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons these need to be confirmed," the official added.
Ultra deepwater find
According to preliminary assessment, ONGC expects to produce over 80 billion cubic metres of gas and 4.5 million tonnes of crude oil over the life of the field from the Northern Discovery Area in the East Coast. The Northern Discovery Area excludes the ultra deepwater find in the same block KG-DWN-98/2. ONGC plans to develop the ultra deepwater discovery separately. The ultra deepwater discovery falls in the Southern Discovery Area.
In the KG block, Cairn holds a minority 10 per cent stake. ONGC is targeting 2016-17 to start production from the area.
ONGC has also been talking to global players for a possible technological partnership for bringing the find to production with cost effectiveness.