ONGC to start production from KG block

Production Timelines

• Cluster-I consists of 3 discoveries. FDPs of 2 discoveries were approved in 2019
• Cluster-II commercial production from one gas field has commenced from March 2020
• Cluster-II commercial production of crude oil is scheduled for May 2024
• Cluster-III FDP is scheduled to be submitted by January 2026

New Delhi: State-controlled Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will in May next year start commercial production of crude oil from its much-delayed flagship deepsea project in Krishna Godavari basin, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday. In a written reply to a question, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli said ONGC’s KG basin project, KG-DWN-98/2, is in “challenging geology”.

Delays have occurred due to multiple challenges and issues in actual project implementation such as subsurface geological issues, shifting of well locations and surface facilities/processing platform, delays and disruption in project supply chain for vendors spread across multiple countries due to Covid-19 pandemic and challenging weather conditions. The KG-DWN-98/2 or KG-D5 block, which sits next to Reliance Industries’ KG-D6 block in the KG basin, has a number of discoveries that have been clubbed into clusters.

Located 35 kilometres off the coast of Andhra Pradesh in water depths ranging from 300-3,200 metres, the discoveries in the block are divided into Cluster-1, 2 and 3. Cluster 2 is being put to production first. “Cluster-I consists of three discoveries. FDPs of 2 discoveries were approved in 2019. This project is currently in the development stage,” he said.

“In Cluster-II, commercial production from one gas field has already commenced from March 2020 and commercial production of crude oil is scheduled for May 2024. The project is likely to achieve full completion by 2024.” In Cluster-III, there is one ultra-deep water gas discovery which would be the second deepest hydrocarbon discovery in the world, when monetised. “The FDP is scheduled to be submitted by January 2026,” he said. As per original plans, oil production from Cluster-II should have begun by November 2021, but was delayed because of the pandemic.