ONGC restores 'near normalcy' at Mumbai High

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has restored "near normalcy" at its prime Mumbai High oil and gas fields after a minor gas leak from a well being drilled.

The western offshore fields of ONGC are producing at near normal rate of 310,000 barrels per day and all personnel and facilities are unharmed.

"I think the leak has been blown out of proportion. In course of drilling operations, minor leaks happen and it all depends on how the company responds to it. We had all emergency procedure in place. There was no blowout and all non-essential personnel were safely evacuated," a top ONGC official said.

Drilling rig Sagar Uday, was operating at NS platform in Mumbai High North oil and gas field on well number NSBX for side-tracking. The depth reached is around 1,183 metres.

Yesterday, early morning, gas flow was observed from the outermost casing annulus.

The Operation has been stopped for safety reasons. Forty eight persons have been evacuated to nearby installations.

"It was a minor, non-threatening leak. Operations are normal and the leakage will be plugged today. Its near normalcy at the fields," he said.

As a precaution, ONGC had shut gas injection into some of the nearby wells in the Mumbai High North fields.

"In a field with close to a thousand wells, stoppage of gas injection in 3-4 wells will not lead to any significant loss of oil production," the official said.

The wells will be put to production after the leak is plugged.

Five vessels, including two Multi Support Vessels (MSVs), are on the location for any immediate support.

Crisis Management Team (CMT) of ONGC is on site. The preparation of plugging the leak is in progress.

International expert from Boots & Coots has also been mobilised.