NEW DELHI: India’s premier oil and gas producer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will invest more than $2 billion in drilling a record 103 wells on its main gas-bearing asset in the Arabia Sea as it pivots a turnaround plan that will add 100 million tonnes to production, a company official said.

ONGC has three main assets off the west coast viz. Mumbai High, Heera and Neelam, and Bassein and Satellite, which contributed the bulk of 21.7 million tonnes of oil and 21.68 billion cubic metres of gas it produced in 2021-22. “We have released a record 103 spots for drilling of wells on the Bassein and Satellite (B&S) assets over the next 2-3 years,” ONGC Director (Offshore) Pankaj Kumar said. The wells will tap smaller and hereto untapped reservoirs and help raise output. “We estimate that this development drilling will enhance production by over 100 million tonnes of oil and oil equivalent gas over the life of the field, and the  investment involved in drilling and facilities will be over $2 billion.”he said.

Two-thirds of the oil and gas produced in the nation is produced by ONGC, thus any further production would help the nation reduce its reliance on imports to fulfil its energy demands.

Around 85% of the crude oil needed to make gasoline and diesel in refineries is imported into India, as is roughly 50% of the natural gas used to generate power, make fertiliser, convert into compressed natural gas (CNG) for use in cars, and supply cooking gas to homes.

To assist reduce the $115 billion import bill, the government has been pressuring state-owned businesses to step up efforts to increase domestic output.

Because its fields are old and ageing, ONGC has recorded a steady reduction in output for more than ten years. But, the company has now pulled itself together and is working on a holistic asset base plan rather than a field-centric approach.

The premier Bassein gas field, D1, and Tapti-Daman, according to Mr. Kumar, are only a few of the fields owned by B&S Asset. Currently, these generate between 55,000 and 66,000 barrels of oil per day (2.8 million tonnes) and 28 million standard cubic metres of gas per day.

The addition of new wells would bring additional production that would counteract the natural decrease in older wells and increase overall output, he claimed, adding that "we have done a reservoir profiling for the entire asset to plan the drilling campaign."

Gas production is expected to increase by 6-7 mmscmd at the Daman field alone, while oil production at the Tapti field might nearly double to 30,000 bpd.

For the revitalization of the other two assets in the western offshore, ONGC will use a similar strategy.

The sixth phase of the rehabilitation of Mumbai High, India's most productive oil and gas field, is in the conceptualization stage, while the fourth phase is virtually finished.

A reversal of the production reduction from the current fiscal year is predicted for ONGC. Production of gas and crude oil are expected to increase in the current fiscal year (2022-23) to 22.099 bcm and 22.823 million tonnes, respectively. Oil production will increase to 24.636 million tonnes in the following fiscal year and to 25.689 million tonnes in 2024–25.The production of natural gas is expected to increase to 25.685 bcm in 2023–2024 and 27.529 bcm the following year.