ONGC's on-going upstream  exploratory efforts is an important segment of its core E&P Business with  responsibility for finding and accreting oil and gas reserves for the country.  FY 2016-17 has been one of the most successful years of the last decade in exploring  oil and gas with more thrust in increased exploration activities during the  year.

       1. 23 new discoveries

ONGC made 23 new discoveries in FY'17, a 35% jump in number of discoveries year-on-year, from 17 discoveries made last year.

Of the 23 new discoveries, 12 are new prospects (a prospect is considered to be a new area having hydrocarbon accumulation, covering a minimum viable size of subsurface area) while 11 are new pools (a pool is a hydrocarbon accumulation in a known area in a new horizon). 13 new discoveries were made in onland (Nominaton-12, NELP-1) and 10 in offshore wells. (Nomination-7, NELP- 3).

A total of 100 exploratory wells were drilled which is higher by 9% as compared to 92 wells drilled in the previous year 2015-16. Of these, 37 wells proved hydrocarbon bearing registering success ratio of 37%.

The accretion of Inplace hydrocarbons is 203.24 MMt (O+OEG) and the Ultimate reserve accretion has been 64.32 MMt (O+OEG) in 2P category, as compared  to accretion of 150.30 MMT(O+OEG) of Inplace and 65.58 MMT(O+OEG) of Ultimate reserves((2P) for 2015-16. 

A significant highlight of initial inplace hydrocarbons accreted during the year 2016-17 has been that 87.3% of the same was through exploratory drilling, while the remaining only 12.7% has been through reevaluation.

Reserve Replacement Ratio (RRR) for the year has been 1.49, against an MoU target of 1.40.

Major discoveries

The exploration feat in the year has given major shot in the arm to India's potential producing basins. Two discoveries MBS051NAA-2 and GKS101NCA-1 in NELP blocks in Kutch and Saurashtra Offshore have reinforced confidence to upgrade these basins to Category-I (Producing) basins through fast track monetization 

SRI-1 discovery in the NELP block KG-OSN-2009/2 in offshore KG basin has established huge potential for syn-rift/deeper play in east coast shallow water. 
Jabera-4 discovery established hydrocarbons for the first time in Vindhyan Basin and has given impetus for putting Vindhyan basin on hydrocarbon map of India.

       2.  Early monetization

ONGC has been working expeditiously for early monetization of new discoveries, in line with the national target of 10% import reduction by 2022, set out by Hon'ble PM. Nine onland discoveries made during the year have been monetized during the year of discovery itself and put on production with average oil rate of 445m3/day and gas rate of 220,000m3/day. The monetized discoveries are Dahej-20, Akholjuni-29 and Gandhar-724(GGAM) in Gujarat; Nambar-12, Suphayam-2, Dayalpur-1, G-390 and KH-38_Z in Assam and Kesanapalli-West deep-1 in Andhra Pradesh.

A framework for monetization of 166 new and small discoveries was brought out by efforts at various Basins and Assets of ONGC. The company has also prepared Revised Long Term Oil and Gas Projections (LTOGP) 2017 in collaboration with different in-house agencies which aims to contribute towards the target of 10% import reduction by 2021-22, including monetizing the discoveries on a fast track basis.

      3.    2D-3D Seismic Survey

i)    ONGC overachieved Seismic Survey targets for 2D & 3D by 122% and 105% respectively. 263 LK of 2D seismic data was acquired against a target of 215 LK and 3D seismic acquisition of 7408 SK was completed against target of 7060 SK during the current year.

(ii)  National Seismic Survey Programme:

The year also marked the beginning of the National Seismic Programme – an ambitious programme of the Government of India to appraise unappraised areas for hydrocarbon potential. The programme was launched by Hon'ble MoS (I/C) Shri Dharmendra Pradhan on October 12, 2016 in Balasore, beginning with the Mahanadi Basin.

ONGC has been entrusted major responsibility in this programme to carry out the survey of 40,835 Line Kilo Meter (LKM) in onland part of 26 sedimentary basins in 18 States and Union Territories.

     4.    R&D efforts

ONGC has also invested in scaling up its R&D efforts in new hydrocarbon frontiers. ONGC established the Gas Hydrate Research and Technology Centre (GHRTC) at Mumbai on 14th September 2016. The company has been a forerunner in Gas Hydrates exploration, being an active participant in the formulation and execution of National Gas Hydrate Programmes (NGHP). Entering the domain of Gas hydrates would help us to achieve the required energy security for our country in the future.

To enhance the Industry Academia interface, ONGC has initiated the "PAN IIT Collaborative Research Program, which consists a Forum comprising Seven IITs viz. IIT-Kharagpur as the coordinating IIT, IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Mumbai, IIT Madras, IIT Roorkee and IIT Guwahati. Under this program 15 projects are already under way.

    5.   Technology Induction

Induction of new state-of-the-art technology in its operations is one of the key focus areas of ONGC. Latest technologies like Broadband 3D seismic survey were introduced in Ratna R-series field and other sectors in Western Offshore for improvement in subsurface imaging. 

3D Ocean Bottom Cable (OBC) survey was carried out in the shallow water transition zone of KG Basin. Full Tensor Gravity (FTG) data acquisition was carried out by using advanced Airborne Gravity Gradiometry (AGG) Method in logistically difficult geologically complex areas of Assam-Arakan Fold belt region in North east.

High-end technologies in wireline logging were inducted during the current year, like Saturn probe for sampling in low permeability reservoirs, Lithoscanner, Isolation scanner, Sonic while drilling etc.

Issued By
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd.
Corporate Communications
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5, Nelson Mandela Marg, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi
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