The Hindu Business Line : ONGC to seek further extension for Bengal offshore drilling

Having secured a six-month extension from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural gas in September 2007, the company tied up three rigs (including one company-owned rig) to drill three wells latest by February 17. While the company-owned rig Sagar Jyoti was found unfit before it could set sailing for the destination, one of the contracted rigs, DS Matdrill, developed snags midway on its journey to Bengal offshore and is now being repaired at Visakhapatnam.

The end result is ONGC could drill only one well within the stipulated time frame by the only available rig, Aban-2. The well, second in a row since 2005 when the campaign was originally launched, proved dry.

According to sources, while drilling is initiated at the next well location in the block(WB-OSN-2000/1), ONGC is believed to be on its way to seek fresh extension under force majeure clause in the PSC (production sharing contract). Unless the extension is granted the results of the ongoing drilling may stand null and void.

As per the force majeure clause, the Union Ministry of Petroleum may grant 21 days or more time to complete the campaign to overcome unforeseen delays.

Cursed history

ONGC launched a four-well drilling campaign in the NELP block targeting deeper objects in March 2005. Despite receiving a total of 18 months’ extension — the maximum as per the PSC — the company could drill only a dry hole within the stipulated timeframe ended in March 2006.

The delay was primarily caused due to muddy soil conditions under the sea, which was clearly unsuitable for the jack-up rig. As luck would have it, a leg of the rig got damaged while drilling the well, and took months to be repaired.

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