ONGC to invest over Rs56,000 crore in KG oil and gas fields

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) plans to invest over Rs56,690 crore (around $8.843 billion) in the discovered oil and gas fields in the Krishna-Godavari basin in the Bay of Bengal, with production targeted to begin in another three to four years.

The discoveries together are capable of yielding over 28 million standard cubic metres per day of natural gas and 75,000 barrels per day over the next 14-15 years.

ONGC has divided the vast KG-DWN-98/2 or KG-D5 and the adjacent G-4 block into 12 oil and gas fields and further brought them under three clusters for the convenience of bringing them into production, official sources said.

The 7,294.6 sq km deep-sea KG-D5 block has been broadly divided into two separate clusters consisting of the Northern Discovery Area (NDA) having an exploration area of 3,800.6 sq km and the Southern Discovery Area (SDA) with an area of 3,494 sq km.

ONGC plans to develop the 11 oil and gas finds in the NDA together with one gas find in G-4 block in three clusters - 14.5 million standard cubic meters per day of gas for 15 years from Cluster-1 comprising of D&E finds of NDA in KG-D5 block and G-4 find in the a neighbouring area.

Cluster-2A mainly comprises of oil finds of A2, P1, M3, M1 and G-2-2 in NDA, which can produce 75,000 barrels per day (3.75 million tonnes per annum).

Cluster 2B, which is made up of four gas finds -- R1, U3, U1, and A1 in NDA -- envisages a peak output of 14 mmscmd of gas, with cumulative production of 32.5 bcm of gas in 14 years.

ONGC plans to drill 45 development wells, construct an array of sub-sea pipelines carrying gas to a fixed platform for processing and a pipeline to carry gas form it to an onshore terminal.

Oil will be transported to a floating production system (FPSO) that will transfer it to ships for taking to refineries.

Gas produced from Cluster-1 is proposed to be taken to a fixed platform in shallow water depths through an 18-inch, 16.1 km pipeline and treated and subsequently evacuated to Odalarevu onshore terminal in Andhra Pradesh through 20-inch, 35.5 km pipeline for sales.

Oil produced from Cluster-2 is proposed to be taken on to a floating production storage and offloading anchored in high-sea through an 18-inch, 21.5 km pipeline. While oil will then be transferred to tankers for transportation to refineries, gas produced alongside will be evacuated on to fixed platform through an 18-inch, 21.4 km pipeline.

The official said there is an existing terminal at Odalarevu, for processing of hydrocarbons received from offshore fields: G-1, Vasishta and S-I.