Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) is seeking approvals from the Government for expediting work on a major oil and gas project in the Krishna-Godavari basin.
The corporation commenced production from its GS 15 off shore project in a small way in August last year producing about 2,000 barrels per day oil and 0.18 cubic metres of gas. But the project that covered a larger area including some deeper blocks would require huge investments.
ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Sudhir Vasudeva told reporters here on Wednesday that appraisal for another site is expected to be completed by the first quarter of next financial year and the overall production from the blocks allotted to it is likely to go up by 2016-17. The ONGC is waiting for clearance from the Defence Ministry in respect of some blocks and it is expecting a conditional clearance by the middle of next month.
“We have not moved into acquisition and no work is going on. The mandatory licence fee we paid is the only investment we made so far,” he said. He refused to make a comment on the quantum of resources available in the K-G basin, but said the reserves that the blocks allotted to the corporation were about 93 billion cubic metres.
ONGC Director (Exploration) S.V. Rao said a couple of blocks, awarded during the 8 round of the NELP ran into rough weather following the restrictions imposed by the Defence Ministry. The corporation is awaiting the response of the Director General of Hydrocarbons on this aspect before moving ahead.
