ONGC, BPCL make new gas discovery in Cauvery basin

Mumbai: Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC) has made a new discovery in the Cauvery basin, its partner Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) informed the stock exchanges on Wednesday.

ONGC is BPCL’s upstream partner in the Cauvery basin exploration block.

The block, CY-ONN-2002/2, is held jointly by ONGC and Bharat Petroresources Ltd (BPRL), the upstream subsidiary of BPCL, India’s second biggest oil marketing company.

According to the note to the exchanges, the exploration well in the block—MD 5—was drilled down to a target depth of 2,175 metres and trapped natural gas in the block flowed at a rate of 61,800 cubic meters per day. It also showed the presence of condensate (a form of volatile light oil) at the rate of 9.6 cubic meters per day.

This is the second hydrocarbon discovery made by ONGC in the NELP-IV block. The first discovery in this block was made in October 2012, which established the presence of crude oil.

However, these are exploratory discoveries and after the complete exploration of the block, the consortium will have to start appraisal discovery which will establish the exact amount of reserves. If the reserves are not found to be commercially viable, the block may be relinquished. The entire process will take at least three years, said an executive from one of the national exploration companies.

BPRL has a 40% interest in the block and the rest is held by ONGC.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.