ONGC to speed up development of KG gas finds.

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) will fast-track development of natural gas discoveries in its Krishna Godavari basin block with first gas planned no later than April 1, 2018.

ONGC has made 11 oil and gas discoveries in the Block KG-DWN-98/2, which sits next to Reliance Industries' KG-D6 Block and Gujarat State Petroleum Corp's Deendayal gas field. The block is divided into a Northern Discovery Area (NDA) and Southern Discovery Area (SDA).

It plans to invest $9 billion in producing from discoveries in NDA, a company official said here.

ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Dinesh K Sarraf recently held an on-site review meeting of Block KG-DWN-98/2 or KG-D5 and fixed April 1, 2018 as date for start of production.

'The company's internal assessment was that gas can start flowing from the block only in 2021-22 but the Chairman wanted the development to be fast-tracked and it is now being planned for 2018,' he said.

ONGC is looking at producing 2.5-3 million tonnes of oil per annum and 9-10 million standard cubic metres per day of gas from the Northern Development Area of KG-D5 block.


BS