ONGC plans to invest more than US$ 500 million in Mumbai High Field

Mumbai: State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) plans to invest more than $500 million in its flagship asset, Mumbai High, to boost hydrocarbon production, two people aware of the development said. ONGC will employ enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods to improve oil recovery from the offshore field and has completed a pilot programme.

“Mumbai High is ONGC’s vintage asset and the company is focused on maximizing recovery from the ageing field. Employing EOR methods is the only way to enhance production," one of the two people cited above said, requesting anonymity.

ONGC did not respond to phone calls and text messages till publishing of this story.

Mumbai High, formerly Bombay High, is an offshore oilfield located in the Arabian Sea, approximately 160km west of the Mumbai coast. It was discovered in 1974, started production in 1976. It consists of two blocks, Mumbai High North and Mumbai High South. A lot of value can still be derived from the legacy field. Almost 20% of new production will come from incremental projects between 2017 and 2025, according to a Wood Mackenzie report.

ONGC envisages a cumulative gain of more than 190 mt of oil from the 28 EOR schemes that it is undertaking, according to its annual report of the last fiscal.

“Low crude prices significantly dent the commercial viability of such schemes, which are usually higher on the cost curve. The break-even costs of three consecutive redevelopment phases since 2000 in Mumbai High North have escalated from $30 per barrel to $53 per barrel," according to ONGC’s Annual report for 2018.

Last week, ONGC gave a contract for the engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning for development of a Cluster-8 marginal field, part of Mumbai High Asset, to L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering, a unit of Larsen and Toubro Ltd. 

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