Commodity Online
NEW DELHI : India’s ONGC on Monday said its natural gas production may double to 100 million cubic meters per day by 2015-16 as it has placed into production latest discoveries.

The company was expected to see production drop radically to one-third by 2020 because of the natural decrease in its ageing fields.

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The company will put three new fields into production to overturn this trend and has expected its output to boost to 66 mmcmd by 2012-13.

The Western Offshore (WO), Cluster-7 and Vashista & S1 fields in the eastern offshore would facilitate taper the drop to 30 mmcmd by 2020.

If discoveries such as UD-1 find in ultra deep waters of Krishna Godavari (KG) basin which are under conceptualization stage are included, the production will increase to 100 mmcmd in 2014-15 and it would be a minimum 20% more than the production in 2020-21.

R S Sharma, ONGC chairman and managing director said the WO Cluster fields would pump a little below 2mmcmd in 2012-13 while Cluster-7 would pump 2mmcmd. The biggest upside would come from Vashista and S1 fields that are expected to pump just under 6mmcmd from 2013-14.

"If we add the discoveries for which plans are conceptualized, the output will rise to 70 mmcmd in 2012-13," Sharma said.

Sharma said the discoveries to be conceptualized comprise the 167 billion cubic meter of reserves in KG-DWN-98/2 block, lying nearby to Reliance Industries Limited' prolific KG-D6 fields in Krishna Godavari basin off the east coast.

Besides, an expected 200 bcm reserves are to be realized in Mahanadi deepwater discoveries, 25 bcm in KG shallow waters and 15 bcm in B and C-Series fields.

These discoveries could produce between 40 to 50 mmcmd, Sharma said.

Gas production from Bassein and its Satellite fields is to reduce to around 13.8 mmcmd in 2011-12 from 27.5 mmcmd in 2007-08.

As a result of natural phenomenon, reservoir pressure at the gas field has decreased with continuous production for over 20 years.

Bassein field was discovered in 1977, some 80 kilometers west of Mumbai and when in 1988 it started gas production, recoverable reserves were expected at 226 billion cubic meters (7.98 trillion cubic feet). The reserves are now expected at about 58 billion cubic meters (2.04 Tcf). Bassein field comprises for 43% of ONGC's gas pumping.