Seek international companions to boost output from Mumbai High, B&S fields: Govt to ONGC

The petroleum Ministry has requested state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to contemplate providing as much as a 60 per cent stake and working rights over components of key Mumbai High and Bassein and Satellites (B&S) oil and fuel producing fields to international corporations to spice up manufacturing. The Centre had beforehand directed ONGC to bid out small and marginal fields to spice up home manufacturing, and has persistently been nudging ONGC to hunt out international gamers as companions to spice up manufacturing from home oil and fuel fields.
A senior authorities official advised The Indian Express that Amar Nath, Additional Secretary in control of Exploration Division on the Petroleum Ministry, had written to ONGC asking it to contemplate bidding out components of the Mumbai High and B&S oil and fuel fields, that are the biggest crude oil and pure fuel fields within the nation, respectively.
The proposal goals to spice up crude oil and pure fuel restoration type the maturing fields. ONGC’s consolidated crude oil output has fallen from 25.5 million metric tonnes (MMT) in FY17 to 22.5 MMT in FY21, whereas its pure fuel manufacturing has fallen to 22.8 billion cubic metres (BCM) from a peak of 25.8 BCM in FY19.

“There are a lot of areas including in those fields where you may find good reserves but they are difficult (to extract),” mentioned a senior authorities official, noting that international gamers with the requisite know-how and experience to extract oil and fuel from such fields might assist enhance manufacturing and recoveries from such fields.
The official added that the federal government was of the view that the overall space beneath exploration with ONGC must be elevated and that the corporate ought to associate with international corporations that may provide know-how to extend restoration from Indian fields.
The official famous, nonetheless, that the letter from Nath — who can also be a authorities nominated director of ONGC — was not a directive from the federal government however a part of discussions to spice up manufacturing.
Government officers have mentioned that each mature fields resembling Mumbai High and main new discoveries resembling ONGC’s KG-DWN-98/2 discipline off the coast of Andhra Pradesh may gain advantage from experience of enormous non-public gamers in recovering reserves in extremely deepwater fields.

The official mentioned that the federal government had additionally directed to enhance bidding phrases for potential buyers involved in bidding for its small and marginal fields.
ONGC had, in August, invited bids for 43 small fields with complete reserves of 160 million tonnes of oil equal, however has obtained bids for under 12-13 fields to this point, in accordance with the official.