The Hindu Business Line : ONGC plans foray into oil recovery consultancy

AFTER the increase in recoveries from the Mehsana, Balol and Santhal fields in Gujarat, by using the in-situ combustion method, ONGC is planning to take up consultancy on oil recovery as a business venture.

The company has already adopted a Rs 1,200-crore programme for implementation of the technology in all fields containing high viscosity oil commonly known as `heavy oil'.

Called Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), the technique require oxidising some of the oil in the reservoir to make the oil lighter and increase the flow of recovery. The oxidisation is brought about by generating heat inside the reservoir.

Worldwide, the technology is in demand as recovery rates are lower in fields containing heavy oil.

"We are one of the few countries which have been able to use this technique successfully," the ONGC Chairman, Mr Subir Raha, told Business Line.

A pilot EOR project will also be launched in Bombay High where the company has already increased its recoveries from 28 per cent to 31 per cent by adopting a different technology.

Describing enhancement of recoveries as "equivalent to striking new oil reserves," Mr Raha said that every percentage increase in recovery was maintained for the rest of the lifetime of the particular field, in the process ensuring higher revenues for the company for a longer period.

Accordingly, ONGC had adopted several techniques under two broad categories EOR and Improved Oil Recovery (IOR). Unlike EOR, IOR does not change the character of the crude in the reservoir.

Elaborating on the subject, ONGC sources said that, globally, Norway recorded a steady recovery at the rate of 55 per cent. Though ONGC has recorded 60 per cent recovery in a well in Cambay, the average recovery is in the range of 25 to 28 per cent.

While ONGC is now eyeing an overall three to five per cent increase in enhancement in recovery from fields on the West coast (containing heavy oil) through the EOR route, the sources said that rough estimates suggest that every percentage increase in the company's recoveries generates an additional revenue of Rs 3,000 crore every year.

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