Page 4 - AsianOil Week 35 2021

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ONGC’s deepwater dive delivers

The state major has announced first gas production from the deepwater KG-D5 block

COMMENTARY ONGC is shifting its focus away from non-per- of three clusters to come on stream. The field
forming upstream assets in order to allow for is anticipated to produce 50.7 bcm of gas and
greater investment in more attractive prospects. 23.52mn tonnes (172.4mn barrels) of oil during
WHAT: The state-run company announced this week its lifetime.
ONGC brought the U1B that its first deepwater natural gas well had come ONGC has committed more than $5bn
well on stream on August on stream, a major step for the company, which worth of investment towards KG-D5’s devel-
31. has complained about the lack of commercial opment, with the block projected to deliver 45
viability at legacy shallow-water and onshore bcm of gas and 25mn tonnes of oil. Production is
WHY: gas fields. projected to peak at 15 mcm per day and 78,000
The company hopes At the same time, ONGC has shelved plans barrels per day (bpd) of oil.
the deepwater field to develop synthetic gas from underground The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas’
will bolster domestic coal deposits. The developer said its partners secretary, Tarun Kapoor, who attended the cer-
production. had walked away from a pilot project in Gujarat emony in honour of the well’s start-up, said U1B
owing to the syngas’ low calorific value, its many held national significance, given the production
WHAT NEXT: impurities as well as the country’s prevailing low potential of the country’s deep waters.
While the company is pricing for gas from legacy developments. “We look forward to production enhance-
preparing for the energy In the longer term, the country’s largest oil ment, especially from ONGC,” he said.
transition, developing and gas producer is also preparing for the energy Cluster 2B is expected to produce 12.75 mcm
new gas reserves will transition and has begun looking at ways to bol- per day from eight wells over a 16-year span,
remain a priority. ster its portfolio of renewable energy projects. while Cluster 2A is anticipated to yield 77,305
bpd of oil as well as 3.81 mcm per day of associ-
Deepwater delivers ated gas over 15 years.
ONGC announced on September 1 that it had ONGC has previously said that it intends
produced first gas from the U1B well in the deep- to drill 34 wells on KG-D5, with eight of those
water KG-DWN 98/2 (KG-D5) block on August producing gas, 15 producing oil and the final 11
31. wells injecting water into the reservoir. The block
The well, which is located in the block’s Clus- is located 35 km off the coast of Andhra Pradesh
ter-2, is estimated to yield 1.2mn cubic metres in 300-3,200 metres of water.
per day of gas at its peak. Cluster 2 consists of The state major is counting on the deepwater
two discoveries – 2A and 2B – and is the first block to reverse its ailing gas output, which has

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