Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Minister of Steel Mr Dharmendra Pradhan visited Mehsana Asset on 22 August 2019. He was accompanied by ONGC Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Mr Shashi Shanker and Director (Onshore) Mr S K Moitra, along with senior executives of the energy major.

The Minister first visited Polymer Injection Plant in Becharaji GGS-2 where he was briefed about the nuances of Polymer injection operation. On seeing the sample of heavy oil of Bechraji field, he appreciated the effort put in by Asset in its production.

Polymer Injection Plant in Bechraji is a part of the pilot polymer injection scheme for Bechraji field, comprising of four injector wells and one producer well. Drilling and completion of these wells were completed in record time and this entire project was commissioned 55 days ahead of its schedule.

The primary objective of this pilot project is to test the efficacy of Polymer flooding process in Bechraji field to design a commercial polymer injection scheme for the entire field.

Minister interacting with ONGCians at Becharaji GGS-2 Polymer Plant

The Minister then laid the foundation stone for another Polymer Injection Plant at North Kadi GGS 3. North Kadi is one of the most prolific field of Mehsana Asset with OIIP of 78.5 MMT and ultimate reserves of 28.2 MMT. While significant recoveries of hydrocarbon have been made in the southern part of the field where the reservoir conditions are ideal, northern part has largely remained under-exploited due to highly viscous crude. To improve recoveries, Polymer injection scheme has been designed with 11 inverted five spot patterns in the northern part of North Kadi.

Dharmendra Pradhan laying the foundation stone of Polymer plant at North Kadi

As full-fledged permanent facility will take some time for commissioning, Asset has expedited the realization of oil gain by mobilizing skid mounted Polymer Injection plant under service contract for the interim period. Drilling of injection and producer wells has already been started and plant is scheduled to be commissioned by January 2020.

Cumulative envisaged incremental oil gain from the project is expected to be 0.719 MMT in 15 years with peak incremental oil production of 250TPD.

The Minister complimented Asset on its functioning and its vision of becoming world pioneers as Enhanced Oil Recovery specialists. After implementation of commercial polymer Injection scheme in North Kadi, Mehsana Asset will become the only Asset which has the vast portfolio of Thermal as well as Chemical EOR.

Pradhan inspecting the Guard of Honor at NK Bhavan

Upon his arrival at N K Bhavan, Mr Pradhan inspected the guard of honour and was given a traditional welcome.

Later in the day, Mr Pradhan also chaired an Asset Review Meeting at NK Bhavan which was attended by CMD, Director (Onshore), ED-AM, Basin Manager and Head IRS along with key executives of the asset. During the interaction with senior executives, Minister evinced keen interest in the advanced technologies being implemented in field operations and inquisitively enquired about the outcomes achieved.

ONGC CMD Shashi Shanker welcoming Dharmendra Pradhan

The Minister complimented the asset for consistently maintaining the production volumes for the past 30 years and being the pioneer of implementing first ever In-Situ Combustion EOR scheme in heavy oil fields for enhancing crude recovery.

Mr Pradhan advised the asset to devise a roadmap and revisit its hydrocarbon production target for the next five years. He said after witnessing the dynamism and dedication of Mehsana Asset, he believes that Asset can achieve higher production targets.

Interactive Session in Progress

He also visited the Micro Turbine facility at Linch GGS – a state of the art technology and a green initiative by the asset that reduces greenhouse emissions by utilizing low pressure flare gas for power generation. Micro Turbine is a part of Asset endeavor to reduce flaring and bring it to technical levels. As a part of the project, LP compressors were installed in Linch GGS to recover natural gas and bring it back into the gas grid network. Further, ultra-low pressure natural gas was recovered through Micro-turbine and generate power for internal use of the installation.

Dharmendra Pradhan visits Linch GGS

Interacting with the CMD, Director (Onshore) and senior executives of ONGC along with government officials, he emphasized on the clarion call of Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi to reduce import dependence by 10% by 2022. He stressed on the need for adopting a fast track approach to achieve set targets with all necessary safety aspects in place. He congratulated ONGC and Mehsana Asset in particular for their contribution in growth of our nation. Before finally parting, he expressed his happiness in meeting with the working level of ONGC and assured the Asset that he will visit again in near future and will spend more time.