ONGC to spend Rs 3,500 cr on drilling 100 wells in Assam

New Delhi: Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is planning to spend Rs 3,500 crore on drilling 100 wells in 21 onshore Petroleum Mining Lease (PML) blocks in Sivasagar district of Assam. The 21 PML blocks will cover major oil producing fields of Lakwa, Rudrasagar and Geleki. The oil exploration company has already drilled over 500 wells in these areas, ONGC said in an application seeking clearance from the Environment Ministry. ONGC had earlier sent an application to the ministry in January, seeking permission to drill 200 wells in Sivasagar at a cost of Rs 6,000 crore.

The backdrop

The company plans to spend an overall Rs 32,921 crore in the current financial year (2019-20). Of this, the PSU plans to spend 34 percent on capital projects, 28 percent on drilling development wells and 22 percent on exploratory drilling, it said in an investor presentation. ONGC's crude oil output from Assam blocks rose 2 percent to 993 Thousand Metric Tonne last financial year, while natural gas production went down by 5 percent to 483 Million Cubic Meter. ONGC has plans to spend Rs 83,000 crore on ongoing projects including 18 development projects and seven infrastructure projects, which are expected to have a lifecycle gain of 72 Million Tonne of crude oil and 116 Billion Cubic Meter (BCM) of natural gas.