ONGC-RIL-BG consortium resumes production at Panna-Mukta fields

Mumbai: The consortium comprising Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India, Reliance Industries and the UK-based BG Group has resumed production of oil and gas from the Panna-Mukta fields off the Mumbai coast, after a month-long shutdown following an explosion.

''We restarted oil and gas production on the evening of 4 July," a consortium official said, adding, production is currently restricted to about half of normal output as repairs will take three weeks.

The Panna-Mukta field currently produces 18,000 to 20,000 barrels of oil a day as against the normal output of 40,000 bpd. Gas output has also been curtailed to around 2.5 million standard cubic meters per day as opposed to 5.5 mmscmd in normal times.

Panna-Mukta oil and gas field was shut on 3 June for routine maintenance work ahead of the monsoon season.  However, while restarting the facility, an explosion occurred at Panna process platform killing one person.

"We were ready to start oil production around mid-June, but the sector regulator DGH advised us against doing so because it would have meant flaring of accompanying gas," the official said.

The damaged facility has been refabricated locally and will be in place by 27 July after which normal output can resume.

Meanwhile, gas output at the Tapi field has been stepped up to 13.5 mmscmd against total output from Panna-Mukta and Tapti field was 17.3 mmscmd.

ONGC holds 40 per cent in the fields while Reliance and BG hold 30 per cent stake each.