Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Jul 04, 2007
ePaper
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Jul 04, 2007 ePaper |
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Corporate
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Announcements Industry & Economy - Petroleum States - West Bengal
Our Bureau Kolkata, July 3 After more than a year, ONGC has firmed up plans to resume exploration at its pre-NELP onland block at Contai in West Bengal. The company recently cleared plans for drilling one exploratory well in the block, located in the coasts of Bay of Bengal in Midnapore district. The previous drilling activities in the block tested negative. According to sources, this may be the last attempt by the company to explore oil and gas in the coasts of Bengal before the Directorate-General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) asks it to relinquish the block. ONGC has already relinquished an onshore-cum-shallow water block in the state. Exploratory drilling has, however, picked up pace in offshore blocks in Mahanadi basin off the coasts of Orissa, where the company has struck gas twice in the last six months. After the successful drilling campaign in MN-DWN-98/3 deepwater block and MN-OSN-2000/2 in shallow water, ONGC has now embarked on drilling campaign in the MN-OSN-97/3 offshore block. The first well drilled in this shallow-water block (50-60 m) tested negative and was abandoned in June. Drilling of the second well, by Transocean Nordic, is expected to begin next week. “Depending on the data gathered during the drilling of the first well coupled with the seismic data, we have now decided to drill a deeper object at around 2,200 m below the sea bed,” a company official told Business Line. “We are expecting success in our second attempt,” he added. The first well targeted an object at around 1,200 m. ONGC holds 85 per cent operating interest in the 4,065 sq km MN-OSN-97/3 block. GAIL holds a participatory interest of 15 per cent. The block was awarded during NELP-I.
More Stories on : Announcements | Petroleum | West Bengal | Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd
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