The Hindu Business Line : ONGC to hire 12 more survey vessels

ONGC has lined up the `biggest-ever,' seismic survey exercise for the exploration of oil and hydrocarbons in the country in this fiscal. A prerequisite for carrying out the drilling operations, the survey in all probability will cross the budgeted Rs 3,500 crore and will be participated in by 36 field parties and 13 survey vessels.

Talking to newspersons following a flag-off ceremony here on Tuesday , the Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Subir Raha, described the exercise as the "biggest ever data acquisition programme worldwide."

Having one offshore survey vessel with an on-board data processing facility, ONGC has decided to charter 12 more vessels. The offshore survey alone would cost the company over $200 million. The survey will be conducted using the latest 4D technology.

The exercise is being carried out as part of the company's initiative to find six billion tonnes of oil and gas reserves by 2020, in addition to its previous finds. ONGC is maintaining an annual positive reserves over-production since 2001. It had earlier identified two billion tonnes of recoverable reserves of which one billion tonnes of oil are already evacuated.

"Globally, the accepted rule is that the exploration of reserves should be higher than the production, and we had a bad patch in the late 1990s. Now, we are back on target again," Mr Raha said.

On the proposed drilling in the Sunderban offshore blocks, he said that the project was delayed owing to non-availability of a suitable rig. "We have now identified a suitable rig and are negotiating for the same. If the negotiation is successful, we will start drilling the first well in early 2005."

The drilling operations in seven blocks in the Mahanadi basin would begin in late 2005, after completion of the ongoing seismic data acquisition programme.

CBM project: On the proposed coal-bed methane (CBM) project in West Bengal and Jharkhand, Mr Raha said that to prevent a time over-run, the company has decided to go for turnkey contracts.

"CBM exploration requires a specific type of rigs. ONGC has one such rig and it would have taken time to acquire more rigs," he said, adding that the company has targeted a commercial production of CBM in 2006-07.

The Director (exploration) of ONGC, Mr Yogesh B Sinha, later said that during the research and development drilling, the company had identified a reserve with 6,000 cu.m production capacity per day in Jharia.

"Such a level of production is much higher than the global average," he said, adding that the company was extremely hopeful of a rich CBM find, especially in Jharia.

The average CBM production capacity in Australia is 2,500 cu.m per day and over 3,000 cu.m in the US.

In talks to revamp Sudan refinery

ONGC is negotiating for a $1-billion turnkey contract for the modernisation and revamping of a refinery in Sudan. The present capacity of the refinery is three million tonnes. It has proposed to carry out the order alone.

Asked whether the company would also bid for downstream projects of the refinery, the Chairman, Mr Raha said, "As on date, we are only looking at the revamping and modernisation programme." ONGC has already won a project for construction of a gas pipeline in Sudan.

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