ONGC to invest Rs 73 billion for five projects

ONGC has revealed plans to invest Rs 73 billion for developing five projects, including Rs 41 billion for the Ratna and R Series oilfields that were restored to the state firm last year after a long-drawn dispute. The government had awarded the contract for the development of the Ratna and R-Series fields, located off the western coast, in 1996 to a private sector consortium led by Essar but the project did not take off for a number of years, prompting the government to give the fields back to ONGC. ONGC expects these fields to begin producing oil by 2018-19 and touch a peak of 14,583 bpd a year later. A cumulative production of 8.4 million metric tonnes of oil and 1.7 billion cubic metres of gas is expected during the project life. The project includes the drilling and completion of 31 wells, the installation of five new well platforms and the revival of one platform. The oil and gas will be evacuated through the existing Heera process complex. The project is expected to be completed by May 2021.