look news india
India’s leading oil and gas company ONGC has achieved a historic achievement in the direction of energy security of the country. The company announced on Monday, March 30 that it has successfully commenced commercial supply of natural gas from platform B-12-24P of its Daman Upside Development Project located in the Arabian Sea. This project, prepared with a huge investment of about 1 billion dollars (about Rs 8300 crore), will prove to be a milestone in reducing India’s dependence on imported gas.
Net laid in the sea 180 KM away from Mumbai
This ambitious project is located in the deep sea about 180 kilometers north-west of Mumbai coast and about 80 kilometers south of Pipavav, Gujarat. According to ONGC, this platform has been fully operationalized and the gas coming out from here is being sent directly to Hazira plant through pipeline. The company aims to gradually increase production from all the wells to its full potential in the coming times.
Record breaking work in less than two years
The biggest feature of this project was its construction period. ONGC completed it in just less than two years, much ahead of schedule. Company officials said that this has been possible due to better planning, state-of-the-art technology and excellent coordination between the drilling and production teams. The commencement of this project will not only increase the company’s revenue (monetization), but will also significantly increase the country’s domestic gas production.
India’s ‘masterstroke’ amid global energy crisis
This development is strategically important for India amid the ongoing Iran-US war in the Middle East and disruptions in the global supply chain. At present India meets about 50% of its natural gas needs through imports. In such a situation, increasing domestic production will reduce the impact of global price fluctuations on the country. ONGC has targeted crude oil production at 22 million tonnes for FY 2025-26, and this is expected to improve further once production from new wells starts.
By joining hands with Reliance, exploration will also be done on the east coast.
Along with the west coast, ONGC now has its eyes set on the east coast of India (Mahanadi, KG Basin and Andaman region). ONGC has joined hands with Reliance Industries to deal with the complexities and high costs of deepwater exploration. Both the companies will share their resources and technical expertise in the Krishna Godavari Basin to reduce the cost of production and increase the speed of work.
Cooperation sought from 10 big companies of the world
ONGC is also considering taking help from global experts to take production to new heights. The company has invited bids for technical cooperation from the world’s 10 biggest oil companies like Shell, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies and Chevron. According to Pankaj Kumar, Director (Production), ONGC, the absorption of foreign technology will help in increasing production from old oil and gas fields.