ONGC spuds 1st well on $5 bn KG project

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has kick-started its USD 5.07 billion KG oil and gas project by spudding the first of the 34 wells, targeting first gas by end of 2019.

Well #KDG-A on the KG-DWN-98/2 or KG-D5 block in bay of Bengal was spud from drillship Platinum Explorer 35 km off the Andhra Pradesh coast, the company said in a statement.

"The well #KDG-A is one of the 34 wells planned under this mega project. The deepwater well has a target depth of 2,346 meters, under a water depth of 518 meters. The well is expected to produce around 5,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) when put to production," it said.

The project will cumulatively produce around 25 million tonnes of oil and 45 billion cubic meters of gas with peak production of 78,000 barrels per day of oil and 15 million standard cubic meters per day.

"ONGC expects to bring first gas from this project to market by 2019 end and oil by 2020," the statement said.

After successfully commissioning of its first deepwater project S1 Vasishta in eastern offshore in March 2018 (which would be yielding about 4.3 mmscmd of gas), ONGC's flagship project from NELP block KG-DWN-98/2 in the deepwater of eastern offshore is now being readied for development.

Thirty four wells will be drilled under this project. Of these 34 wells, 15 are oil producing, 8 are gas producing and 11 are water injecting wells.

Associated natural gas from Cluster 2A of this project will have a peak production of 3 mmscmd of gas and 78,000 bopd of oil with a 15 year profile; non-associated natural gas from Cluster 2B will have a peak free gas production of 12.25 mmscmd with a 16 year profile.

The project KG DWN 98/2 involves some of the most advanced oil field technologies in drilling and completion of 34 sub-sea wells, laying about 425 km of pipeline and 150 km of control umbilical in water depths varying from 300 to 1,400 meters.

There will be an Offshore Process Platform for processing & evacuating 6.5 mmscmd of gas. Balance 5.75 mmscmd gas will be transported through ONGC's existing sub-sea infrastructure and facilities, created at onshore terminal of Odalarevu at Andhra coast. Floating Production, Storage and Offloading Vessel (FPSO) will also be deployed in water depth of 413 meters to process the oil and gas.

The project envisages a CAPEX of 5.07 billion US Dollars and OPEX of 5.12 billion US dollars over field life of 16 years.

Speaking on the occasion, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that best-in-class project management will ensure achievement of the targets within time.

He also emphasised the Union Government's strong commitment towards Andhra Pradesh, which is emerging as a major oil and gas hub of India. "It is our endeavour to make these major investments in oil and gas sector bring prosperity to the people of Andhra Pradesh," he said.