The Hindu Business Line : ONGC hopes to strike gas on East Coast

Addressing a press conference here today, the ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Mr Subir Raha said, "I hope I will be able to give you good news soon."

Without further elaboration, he added that the company had "very interesting" exploration data from the deep-sea blocks in KG basin and had decided to deploy its rig, Dolphin, here after the monsoon.

Currently parked in West Coast, Dolphin can explore up to 3,000 metres below the seabed. Exploration in the KG basin is now carried out by two deep-sea rigs that can go up to 900 and 1,800 metres. Both will be diverted to Mahanadi basin in the next fiscal.

Though the past two attempts failed, exploration will again be carried out in the waters off the Sunderbans. "We have identified the suitable drilling rigs and will start drilling operations in at least four wells this winter," Mr Raha said.

The drilling in Contai in West Bengal "gave us some indication of gas. We are now carrying out additional seismic survey and will go for further rigs, once a reasonable chance of success is identified," he added.

Talking on the company's overall production targets in this fiscal, he said that "production will be marginally higher this year" as ONGC was facing constraints in transporting crude from Mumbai High.

"We have already issued Rs 2,700-crore contracts for the new pipeline between Mumbai High and Uran. Once the new pipeline is operational in 2005-06, our production will increase significantly."

To enhance productivity of operations in Assam, a Rs 1,033-crore exercise involving modernisation, revamp and replacement of existing old production facilities has been launched. ONGC launched its Assam operations in 1962.

In talks with Russian body for coal gasification project

ONGC is negotiating with Stochimsky Institute of Russia to commission underground coal gasification project in West Bengal on a pilot basis this fiscal.

The company will also enter into an MoU with Coal India in this regard shortly. The gas generated will primarily be used by the power sector.

The ONGC CMD, Mr Subir Raha, said that though the pilot project would utilise the shallower coal seams, the ultimate aim of the project was to utilise the reserves left in abandoned coal mines or seams lying deeper than 1,000 metres under the earth which are otherwise inaccessible for commercial mining.

On the coal bed methane (CBM) project in West Bengal and Jharkhand which is scheduled to start commercial production in 2006-07, Mr Raha said that the global tender for turnkey development had been invited. Tenders would be finalised in a few weeks.

Later, elaborating on the project, Mr A.K. Balyan, Director (business development and joint venture), said that ONGC has already invested Rs 100 crore in the CBM project for drilling 20 slim holes. "We are now finalising tenders for hundreds of such holes in five blocks."