ONGC looks for foreign partners to help in oil hunt

Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. | Oil Exploration | Oil & Gas | BSE: 500312 | NSE: ONGC

21 Nov 2011 Evaluate

ONGC is tapping global companies for a possible tie-up to boost its domestic deep-water hydrocarbons hunt. On offer are 19 oil and gas acreages, including the East Coast ultra-deepwater gas discovery of the company, won through domestic licensing rounds. ONGC has written to 13 international companies, mainly from the US and Australia, for a proposed partnership.

Of the 19 blocks on offer for participating interest, three are already discovered. The blocks are spread across the Krishna-Godavari Basin, the Cauvery-Palar Basin, the Mahanadi Basin, and the Andamans. Recently, ONGC has been in discussions with ENI, the Italian exploration major, for a possible tie-up in the integrated appraisal, development process of New Exploration and Licensing Policy block KG-DWN-98/2 (excluding the big gas discovery in ultra-deepwater in same the block) and adjoining nomination blocks. The asset has both oil and gas.

Most of ONGC's production comes from ageing fields and Mumbai High offshore. The company hopes that new and marginal fields can help raise its crude oil production by about 15 per cent to 28 million tonne by 2013. It hopes that natural gas production will rise to 100 million standard cubic metres per day by 2016-17 from the current 62 mmscmd.