Ganges Geo Resources takes over Cambay block
Five years have passed since Ganges Geo Resources won the DSF-2 block CB/ONDSF/Vadatal/2018.
But only now has ONGC begun transferring the area to Mumbai-based Ganges, carved out from a relinquished part of ONGC's onland Cambay basin block CB-ONN-2004/2 in central Gujarat. "We are expecting the go-ahead from the environment ministry either by the end of this month (August 2024) or early next month (September 2024)," says an ONGC source.
ONGC asked the ministry in December 2023 to transfer all critical regulatory documents, licenses and approvals, including the environmental clearance. Operator ONGC signed the PSC for NELP-VI block CB-ONN-2004/2 on March 2 (2007), which it shared with GSPC.
The consortium relinquished part of the block, and the oil ministry brought it under the DSF-2 bidding round in 2018, subsequently awarding the 194.97-sq km contract area to Ganges in March 2019. Ganges applied for the 20-year PML on May 9 (2019) and received it on January 8 (2020) from the Gujarat state government.
In 2016, ONGC planned a massive drilling campaign of 108 development wells in the block, which the environment ministry cleared on March 16 (2017). Under the EC, ONGC was also to lay 4-inch and 8-inch diameter oil and gas flow lines, set up three Early Production Systems (EPS), three water injection facilities and three Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs).
However, ONGC will now drill 102 wells in CB-ONN-2004/2, and Ganges will complete the remaining six at the proposed drilling locations in CB/ONDSF/Vadatal/2018: Well#33, Well#34 and Well#36 at Gutal village; Well#35 at Narsanda; Well#39 at Rajnagar and Well#41 at Bakrol village. ONGC expects to produce 54,565 b/d (744 t/d) from its 102 wells, while Ganges expects 323 b/d (44 t/d) from its six wells.
Similarly, ONGC expects 1.13m cm/d of gas production from its 102 proposed wells, while Ganges expects 66,000 cm/d from its six wells. ONGC has worked out its total project cost at Rs842cr ($100.56m), and Ganges has worked out its project cost at Rs48cr ($5.73m).