ONGC Tripura Asset posts highest ever gas production

Agartala: The ONGC Tripura Asset has recorded the highest ever annual gas production at 1,675 Million Standard Cubic Metres (MMSCM) in the northeastern state for FY23 breaking all its previous records, a senior official said on Friday.

Prior to this, the maximum amount of natural gas produced by ONGC in the northeastern state was during 2020-21 FY, when the company registered a gas output of 1,634 MMSCM. "Oil and gas exploration is a risky business, where the outputs do not always tally with the inputs and there are so many moving parts and involvement of technology at every step of the way. We are happy that the ONGC Tripura Asset has managed to pull it off despite inherent challenges", the official said.

He said to achieve record production and also to sustain a high level of output in the coming days, a lot of operational initiatives were set in motion in the past couple of years such as installation of plunger lifts, mobile separators and regular activation of low-pressure wells. "Besides, in order to overcome the logistical and geological challenges of the region ONGC has also recently commissioned Aerial Hydrocarbon Survey to map the more remote locations and Advanced Hi-tech Drilling Rigs to drill deeper and more accurate wells in difficult terrain", he said.

At present, five to six rigs are operational for search gas while out of three hi-tech rigs one has already been commissioned and two will be pressed into service shortly. Despite the remoteness of the fields and high decline rates, ONGC Tripura Asset has registered a 3 per cent production growth in the last 6 years.