ONGC on way to add another basin on production

New Delhi: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) is on its way to commercialising another basin – the Vindhyan Basin. This would be the ninth producing basin of India; the eighth by ONGC. This comes close on the heels of the eighth Indian Basin – the Bengal Basin – dedicated to the nation on December 20, 2020.

Exploratory well Hatta#3 was drilled with the objective to establish commercial potential through detailed testing to acquire reservoir-specific data. The Well Hatta#3 is in the Son valley sector of Madhya Pradesh. On testing, the well-produced over 62,044 cubic meters/day gas, thus confirming the production potential of the Proterozoic Basin for the first time in India. ONGC Director (Exploration) RK Srivastava personally supervised the testing activities at the well-site on this historic occasion on March 29, 2022.

Active exploration in the Vindhyan Basin began with the acquisition of seismic data in the late 1980s. The very first well Jabera#1, drilled in the Basin in 1991, produced gas of around 2,000 cubic meters/day. Perseverance of ONGC spanned over the next 25 years, with the drilling of 26 exploratory wells in the Son and Chambal valley sector of the Vindhya Basin, notwithstanding 14 of them providing sub-commercial gas flows in the Son Valley. Finally, continued efforts have now paid off – the Vindhyan Basin is close to becoming the ninth producing basin of India. "ONGC is fully geared to consolidate this development. With belief in productivity, it has already acquired 5 Blocks under OALP rounds on the same play trend," said the oil major.

ONGC is now working out various monetisation options for the gas, viz., direct marketing to industries in the vicinity, cluster-based gas production through cascade systems, CNG bottling at well-head as the gas is of high calorific value and transportation using the available facility.

While congratulating the team involved in this exercise, ONGC CMD Dr Alka Mittal said, "It's a matter of great pride for ONGC as well as the oil and gas industry of the country to realise this aspiration of adding yet another basin with production potential on India's energy map."

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