ONGC discovers two natural gas blocks at Mahanadi basin again

NEW DELHI: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has made two significant back-to-back natural gas discoveries in a Mahanadi basin deepwater block in the Bay of Bengal as its calculated game plan of venturing into high-risk deep water exploration starts yielding results.

The firm made the discoveries in the block MN-DWHP-2018/1, which it had won in the third round of auction under the open acreage licensing policy in 2019, two sources with direct knowledge of the development said.

Significantly, the discoveries have been made in an area, which previously was classified as a ‘no-go’ area because of national security interests.

The first discovery, named Uktal, is in 714 metres of water depth and flowed more than 3 lakh cubic metres per day of gas during initial testing, they said, adding the other find is at a water depth of 1,110 metres.

ONGC has notified the discoveries to upstream regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) and is now doing pool size and commercial viability assessments, they said.

For a nation that imports roughly half of its gas needs, finding new reserves augurs well for its energy security. India is targeting raising the share of natural gas in its energy basket to 15 per cent by 2030 from the current 6.3 per cent and more domestic production will aid that.

Gas is being seen as a transition fuel in India’s journey towards net zero carbon emission by 2070. As the country pivots away from polluting fossil fuels, natural gas with a lower carbon footprint is seen as a bridge fuel.

Natural gas extracted from below ground or sea-surface is used to generate electricity, make fertilisers or turn into CNG to use as fuel in automobiles and piped to household kitchens for cooking purposes. Greater use of natural gas will replace coal in power generation and liquid fuels in industries.