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ONGC Discovers Oil In Western Onshore Basin; To Invest Rs.372 Cr. On Offshore Fields

(RTTNews) - Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd., or ONGC, said it had discovered oil in the Western Onshore basin in the exploratory well Vadatal-1 in NELP Block CB-ONN-2004/2,. The well was drilled to a depth of 1,784 meters and found to be oil bearing in the interval 1,148 to 1,137 meters in EP-IV Formation of Mid. Eocene age.

The discovery pertains to a NELP-VI Block in the Tarapur area of the Western Onshore basin. The discovery has opened up a large are for exploration and is under further assessment of its extent and potential. On conventional testing, the the well indicated a potential of 279 barrels per day.

The company said its board approved an investment of Rs.372.11 crore for development of BHE and BH-35 area, east of Mumbai High South Field. BHE was first discovered in 1976 and was again taken up for delineation in 1983, but was not deemed economically viable at the then prevailing prices of oil and gas.

It is estimated that the cumulative production of oil and gas from BHE and BH-35 is 0.422 million metric tonnes and 0.529 billion cubic metres respectively over a period of 8 years. At its peak, these fields will produce 2,500 barrels per day of oil and 2,50,000 cubic metres of gas.

ONGC has decided to locate a well platform with minimum facilities between BHE and BH-35 fields and drilling directional swells to produce oil and gas from the two fields and evacuate the oil and gs to SH Complex which is located only ten Kms from BHE.

ONGC shares are currently trading at Rs1,293.90., up by 1.01% from the previous close on the BSE.