DGH seeks data on ONGC's top 47 fields after rejection of bid to privatise fields

After a plan to privatise ONGC's biggest oil and gas fields was nipped in the bud, upstream regulator DGH has asked the state-owned firm to submit detailed data on its top 47 fields to monitor production and projects to raise output, an official order said.

A high-level committee headed by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar had in late 2018 considered "transferring" giants such as Mumbai High, Vasai East and seven other fields of ONGC to private/foreign companies but had to shelve the plan in face of strong opposition from both within the government and the company.

The final report that the committee submitted on January 29 had watered down the proposal by recommending freedom to national oil companies (NOCs) to choose field-specific implementation model including farm out, joint venture or technical service model for raising output from 59 fields -- 47 of ONGC and 12 of Oil India Ltd (OIL) that contribute 95 per cent of the country's current output.

The report, which suggested asking NOCs to provide enhanced production profile for all the fields that were given on nomination basis, was approved the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 19.

Subsequent to that, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) on March 20 wrote to Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and OIL to submit "by second week of July 2019" all "data pertaining to 59 nomination fields of NOCs."