The Hindu Business Line : ONGC fields in Krishna-Godavari to go on stream next year

Technical problems and lack of a weather window have delayed the development of ONGC's G1 and GS15 fields in Krishna-Godavari basin by almost a year. Against the previous target of commencing production by April 2006, the fields are now expected to go into production by March-April 2007.

The peak gain from the two fields is expected to be around 9,400 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and the gas production, 2.7 mmscmd. Though the time overrun may lead to some escalation in costs from the initial estimate of Rs 1,263 crore, adequate arrangements have been made to restrict any sharp rise in the cost of development, according to ONGC sources.

Of the two, G1 is the first deepwater field to be developed by ONGC. The company will develop five production wells in the deep-sea G-1 structure. Development of GS-15, a shallow-water field lying five km offshore, has been integrated into the project. Together, G1 and GS15 can be regarded as ONGC's first ever digital oilfields equipped with smart-wells that would require less intervention, leading to lower production cost.

"We had previously planned to bring part of the project into production before the monsoon in 2006. However, as per the prevailing conditions, we will not be able to complete the work by next month. Also, the weather conditions on the Eastern coast offer very little work window during the entire stretch of May to December," a senior ONGC official said.

"Accordingly, we have now decided to take up the pending work once again in January 2007 and target completion by April-May 2007," the official added.

More Stories on : Outlook | Petroleum | Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page