The Hindu Business Line : ONGC suspends drilling campaign in Mahanadi basin

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Kolkata Feb. 9 ONGC has temporarily suspended its drilling campaign in Mahanadi basin and is redeploying the deepwater drilling rig Discoverer Seven Seas (DSS) to KG basin block (KG-DWN-98/2), where the company has struck a major gas find.

DSS will join Belford Dolphin to step-up the drilling campaign in KG basin.

According to company sources, drilling campaign will be resumed in Mahanadi basin later during the year. ONGC has already struck gas at MN-OSN-2000/2 offshore block in Mahanadi. Detailed report on the reserve size is awaited.

Meanwhile, the company had hit a dry well at NEC-DWN-2002/2 deepwater NELP-IV block. Located closer to the Mahanadi basin block, the NEC block was awarded to ONGC in NELP-IV.

Re-deploying

"We are now re-deploying our drill ship Discoverer Seven Seas to speed up the drilling activities in KG basin. We will come back to Mahanadi basin few months later," a senior ONGC official told Business Line.

Meanwhile, the company is planning fresh technology infusion for onshore exploration.

Acquired exploration technologies worth less than Rs 4,000 crore in 2006-07, ONGC is expecting a jump in technology budget to Rs 5,000 crore in 2007-08.

While offshore exploration was a major beneficiary of the last few years infusion programme, ONGC is now identifying technologies to boost onshore oil hunt.

According to sources, the company has already introduced pilot multi-transient electromagnetic (MTEM) surveys in onshore blocks in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, and is also exploring emerging options like `virtual drilling'.

The latter reduces the chance of hitting a dry well.

"Apart from infusion of proven technologies we are also testing our hands with the emerging technologies," a company official said.

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