ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL) on Thursday stated that it expects the output from its deep-sea project in Brazil to rapidly rise to 40,000 barrels a day (bpd) by the year-end. It is also putting in place a mechanism to offset the natural declines that have set in its projects in Russia and Sudan.
“At present, oil is being produced from just one well and the output is about 5,500 bpd. It will rise to 40,000 bpd by year end when five more wells will be brought into production,”
OVL Managing Director R. S. Butola said here. OVL, which has nine producing properties in seven countries, produced 6.5 million tonnes in 2008-09. This fiscal the output is set to fall to 5.8 million tonnes owing to lower production in Sakhalin-1 project in Russia and the Greater Nile project in Sudan.
Sakhalin-1, where OVL has 20 per cent stake, is producing about 1.60 lakh bpd, down from peak of 2.50 lakh bpd achieved in 2007 and the output is slated to fall further to about one lakh bpd by 2011. In Sudan, the output has fallen to 1.75 lakh bpd.
OVL, Shell and Petrobras of Brazil started production on July 12 at its multi-field Parque das Conchas project, also known as BC-10, 120 km off Brazil’s Southeast Coast. The output will be quickly ramped up to one lakh bpd or five million tonnes a year shortly.
Shell is the operator of the project with 50 per cent stake while Brazil’s state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has 35 per cent interest. OVL has 15 per cent.
Mr. Butola said OVL’s San Cristobal project in Venezuela was producing about 32,000 bpd (1.6 million tonnes a year) and the output is likely to go up to 40,000 bpd shortly. Output from San Cristobal had fallen to 20,000 bpd last year.
