ONGC plans to double 98/2 production soon
ONGC has unveiled plans to more than double crude oil production from its landmark KG-DWN-98/2 development.
At an analyst earnings conference call on August 6 (2024), ONGC director finance Vivek Tongaonkar said: "At KG-DWN-98/2, we are producing 12,000 b/d; we expect to open one more well this quarter (July, August, and September 2024); and subsequently, from the third quarter (October, November and December 2024) we expect to open further wells." As more wells open up, ONGC believes production will increase to 30,000 b/d from October 2024 to March 2025, rising further to 45,000 b/d by 2025-26.
Similarly, east coast gas production is expected to double from 2.4m cm/d to 6m cm/d by March 2025. After Tongaonkar's presentation, ONGC corporate planning chief Ajay Kumar Singh clarified that it is producing from four wells at KG-DWN-98/2 and will open a fifth well this month (August 2024).
"So we'll be operating with five wells in August 2024," he said. Of the 2.4m cm/d of east coast gas production, 400,000 cm/d is from KG-DWN-98/2, while the U fields contribute 1.2m cm/d, the G1 field contributes 500,000 cm/d and the Vasistha field yields 200,000 cm/d.
Of the 2.4m cm/d total, 400,000 cm/d is associated gas, expected to increase to 1.4m cm/d by the end of this month (August 2024). According to Singh, ONGC has 26 wells at KG-DWN-98/2, of which 13 are oil-bearing and seven are gas-bearing.
"By March (2025) we'll be opening all 13 (oil producing wells) plus six remaining wells," said Singh. Tongaonkar added that ONGC has invested $4bn in KG-DWN-98/2.
He acknowledged that the production ramp-up in the KG basin has been slow. "Slower implementation is partly due to the weather, which has been rough this year," he stressed.
"But we are hoping that we should make up for all these delays and be better placed with oil in October, November and December (2024) and gas in January, February and March (2025)."