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Richa Mishra

New Delhi , Jan. 5

After testing success in Mahanadi Basin, ONGC is now set to start spudding in another block in the region.

A senior company official told Business Line that the spudding was expected to begin anytime now in the block NEC-DWN-2002/2.

The rig Discoverer Seven Sea (DSS) has already been moved to the area from its earlier station in the basin.

The official said that the region promises to be rich in hydrocarbons. Recently, the company is understood to have confirmed presence of hydrocarbons in MDW-2A, 2B in block MN-OSN-2000/2 in the Mahanadi Basin. The block where the spudding is to start is in deepwater with water depth of 1,065 metres and well depth of 2,000 metres.

The block is about 105 nautical miles from the present location in MN-OSN-2000/2. The block, where spudding is about to begin, was awarded to ONGC under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) IV round.

Spudding is the first strike of the drill bid on the formation. The entire drilling process is likely to take two-three weeks, the official said. Besides, there are also indications of a find in Assam Shelf Basin block, which is an onland block. The two locations - Mahanadi Basin and Assam Shelf - are in addition to the recent gas discovery by the company in the Krishna Godavari Basin. While MDW-2A and UD-1 are gas discoveries, KPAA in the Assam Shelf basin is an oil discovery.

However, the company is not quantifying the discoveries. The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) is currently assessing the volumes.

The exploratory well Kalanpur-1 in Assam Shelf Basin was spudded on September 9 and based on the log evaluation and tests carried out, presence of oil has been confirmed. The gas discovery in the Mahanadi basin block MN-OSN-2000/2 is also understood to be quite big.

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