Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Feb 09, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Feb 09, 2006 |
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Corporate
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Outlook ONGC `dry run' in Bengal continues Pratim Ranjan Bose
Kolkata , Feb. 8 ONGC seems to be continuing its dry run in Bengal. According to sources, the testing results of its first exploratory well at Bengal offshore (WB-OSN-2000/1) block in the Sunderbans (ONGC has 85 per cent operating interest in the block) have been "not at all encouraging" with the result that the well "may be abandoned". The company is slated to drill four exploratory wells in Bengal offshore. As far as this particular well is concerned, there was a strong gas show and the seismic data as well as other prevailing conditions indicated the presence of a viable gas reserve. "We know there is gas, only we have to establish it," an ONGC official had said previously. The exploratory drilling of the first well (WB-OS-01) commenced in March 2005 and took 10 months to complete, almost four months behind schedule. The estimated cost involvement was Rs 80 crore. The jack-up rig, Transocean Nordic, hired to carry out exploration in the typically shallow water depths and muddy under bottom in the delta, costs $74,000 a day. The failure has drawn flak from the company Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Subir Raha, who, in a recent brainstorming session in Mumbai, raised a number of questions about the possible procedural lapses. Though the final testing results are yet to be known, sources said the company had called for a `failure analysis' to evaluate the potential of the well and ensure adoption of best practices in future drilling activities in the block and elsewhere. "While hitting a dry well is part of the oil and natural gas exploration activity, ONGC is now trying to establish proper failure analysis studies so that precious resources do not go waste and the success rate improves," an official said. "The beginning of this process might begin with Bengal offshore," he added.
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