KG Basin's Cluster-2 to help ONGC double production in 5-6 years

Firm has already flagged off 17 production related projects worth Rs 76,000 cr in past three years

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is set to double its production in the next five to six years, through its recent investments in gas-based projects including the much hyped Cluster-2 of the Krishna Godawari basin, the company chairman Dinesh K Sarraf said on Tuesday. 

Addressing an Independence Day function in Dehradun, Sarraf said, “The share of gas in India’s energy basket is set to increase from 6.5 per cent to 15 per cent. Government is focused on making our economy gas based.”

The company has already flagged off 17 production related projects with a capital expenditure of Rs 76,000 Crore in the past three years. These projects are expected to produce 69 million metric tonne (MMT) of crude oil and 118 billion cubic metre (BCM) of natural gas during their profile period.

“Share of gas in India's energy basket is set to increase from 6.5 per cent to 15 per cent. Government is focused on making our economy gas-based”

Dinesh K Sarraf, ONGC chairman

“Cumulative production from these projects would peak during 2020-21 at 6.65 MMT of crude and 13.38 BCM of gas which is 45 per cent of our oil and gas standalone production during FY17”, Sarraf said.

Interestingly, ONGC’s flagship project – development of Cluster-2 of KG-DWN-98/2 -- continues to be on stream and the company is likely produce about 25 MMT of oil and 50 BCM of gas with peak production of 4 MMT of oil and 5.5 BCM of gas from it. This would be equivalent to 17 per cent and 24 per cent of current standalone oil and gas production respectively– from a single project.

“During the last three financial years, we have completed 15 production related projects (including 8 brownfield and 7 greenfield) with capital investment of Rs 54,000 crore. These would produce 87 MMT of crude and 56 BCM of gas during their profile period”, he said. During FY17, ONGC produced 5 MMT of crude and 3.5 BCM of gas from these projects, which is 22 per cent and 16 per cent of its standalone crude and gas production respectively.

In FY17, ONGC made 23 hydrocarbon discoveries with a total reserve accretion of 65 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMtoe). “While our exploration track record has been consistently noteworthy, the fact that we successfully put 8 out of the 13 onshore discoveries on production within the same year i.e. FY17, reflects our desire to immediately monetise these discoveries,” he said.

Meanwhile, ONGC’s onshore assets have reversed declining trend in production, persisting for several years, by registering crude production at 5.97 MMT in FY17 as against 5.82 MMT in FY16.