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2024
Jan 2024: ONGC achieved first oil from phase 2 of the deepwater KG-DWN-98/2 Block in the Bay of Bengal from the M Field. Phase 1 was completed in 2020 with gas production from the U Field. M field production is scheduled to reach reach 45,000 bbls of oil per day and over 3.6 bcm per year of gas increasing ONGCs production by 11% and 15% respectively.
2023
Aug 2023: ONGC discovered gas in the Pukhraj well (ST-6) in the Mid-South Tapti license, Mumbai Offshore. Gas flowed from the Mahuva and Daman formations beyond established limits of the Mid Tapti - South Tapti fields.
Jun 2023: Reliance (operator, 66.67%) and BP (33.33%) started production from the MJ field in the Krishna Godavari (KG) D6 block off the east coast in 1,200m of water. MJ is an HPHT gas-condensate field and will produce from 8 wells to reach around 4 bcm of gas per year and 25,000 bbls per day of condensate. The Ruby FPSO will process the liquids.
May 2023: ONGC made 2 discoveries of oil and gas (Amrit and Moonga) in OALP (Open Acreage Licensing Policy) block MB-OSHP-2017/1 in Mumbai Offshore (SW) in the Arabian Sea. Amrit is MBS171HAA-1 and Moonga is MBS182HDA-1.
Jan 2023: ONGC announced first oil flowing into jack-up rig MOPU (Sagar Samrat) from the WO-16 cluster of 4 fields in the Arabian Sea at a water depth of 75-80m. It is 40 kms from the Mumbai High area and is expected to handle up to 20,000 bbls per day of oil.
2022
Oct 2022: The Government has announced the offer of 26 oil and gas blocks in its latest exploration licensing round including 15 ultra deepwater, 8 shallow-water and 3 onshore blocks. It has also offered 16 CBM Blocks under its Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP).
Sep 2022: The government awarded contracts for 31 developments through the 3rd Discovered Small Fields (DSF-3) bid round. ONGC, IOCL and Vedanta (parent of Cairn) along with smaller companies won areas in the offshore Cauvery, Cambay, Kutch, Mumbai and Krishna Godavari basins and onshore in the Assam Arakan, Rajasthan, Cambay, Vindhyan and Krishna Godavari basins. Eleven onshore and 21 offshore areas were offered.
Aug 2022: ONGC has signed a heads of agreement with Exxon Mobil for deepwater exploration in the Krishna Godavari and Cauvery Basins in the eastern offshore and the Kutch-Mumbai region in the western offshore.
Jun 2022: ONGC has discovered oil, gas and condensate with in the SD-4-4 exploration well in the Mumbai offshore region. The well was drilled in the C-Series Nomination ML Block, testing the Daman Formation.
Mar 2022: McDermott has delivered the subsea U-Field (U1-B, GX-06) well) for ONGC's KG-DWN 98/2 Block gas project in the Bay of Bengal. The field is now connected to ONGC's Vashishtha subsea infrastructure. McDermott will also deliver the R-Field
2021
Dec 2021: The DSF Bid Round-III has been announced where discoveries will be offered for International Competitive Bidding.. Bid submission will end in March, 2022. The OALP Bid Round-VII has also been announced offering 8 Blocks for exploration ending on Feb 15 2022. Five blocks are onshore, 2 are shallow water type and 1 is ultra deepwater.
Apr 2021: Reliance (operator, 66.67%) and BP (33.33%) announced start of production from the 5-well Satellite Cluster gas field in block KG D6 in 1,850m of water, the second of 3 developments (R Cluster, Satellite Cluster and MJ) which together are expected to produce over 10 bcm of gas each year by 2023. The developments use the existing hub in the KG D6 block.
Mar 2021: Adani Welspun Exploration (AWEL) (100%) announced a gas discovery in Nelp-VII block MB-OSN-2005/2 in the Tapti-Daman sector, Surat Depression, of the Mumbai offshore basin. The block is located close to ONGC’s B-12 field.
2020
Dec 2020: Reliance (operator, 66.67%) and BP (33.33%) announced start-up of the R Cluster gas fields in block KG-D6, Krishna-Godavari Basin, off the east coast. It is the first of 3 projects to come onstream. R-Cluster water depth is greater than 2000m, the deepest gas field in Asia. Plateau gas production is estimated at 4.7 bcm a year.
Dec 2020: ONGC discovered oil, gas and condensate in the Mumbai Offshore basin, Well BS-17-1 within the West of Bassein ML block. Hydrocarbons flowed from multi-layered reservoirs in the Bassein, Mukta and Heera formations.
Oct 2020: A total of 12 bids, 7 by Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), 4 by Oil India Ltd (OIL), and one by a private bidder (Invenire Petrodyne), were received for 11 blocks on offer in OALP Bid Round-V. ONGC and OIL won all their bids.
May 2020: ONGC has placed Notice of Award (NoA) to 7 bidders in 13 contract areas comprising 49 marginal oil and gas fields across the states of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Assam.
Apr 2020: McDermott announced that first gas has been achieved on ONGC 98/2 Block in the offshore Krishna Godavari Basin. It is the largest subsea project in India including 26 deepwater trees at a water depth of up to 1,300m. A single well has been tied to the existing Vashishta facility.
Jan 2020: Reliance and BP ceased production from the D1 D3 field in Block KG D6, off the east coast. It was India’s first deepwater gas field, onstream in April 2009. Three other projects (R cluster, Satellite cluster and MJ) will use the infrastructure and be a hub for new developments.
2019
Jun 2019: ONGC announced a Notice Inviting Offer (NIO) for enhancement of oil and gas production from 64 marginal fields. The contractor will be selected on a revenue sharing basis.
Jun 2019: Reliance and BP announced sanction of the deep water MJ project (also known as D55) on the east coast. It is the 3rd project in the Block KG D6 development following sanctions for R-Series fields in 2017 and Satellites cluster in 2018. They will together access around 85 bcm of gas with investment of US$5bn producing up to 25 bcm a year by 2023.
Mar 2019: Vedanta (100%) has made a Mesozoic oil discovery in its 2nd exploration well (H2) in block KG-OSN-2009/3 within the Krishna-Godavari basin. The first well (A3-2) drilled was a gas discovery.
Mar 2019: ONGC made 2 discoveries. Well GKS091NFA-1 in block GK-OSN-2009/1 Kutch Offshore in Gujarat flowed gas. In NWMH Extn. PML in the Western Offshore, well B-203-2 flowed oil and gas from the Mukta sandstone. A limestone in the Heera formation also flowed oil and gas confirming westward extension of the WO-4 play.
Jan 2019: India is auctioning 14 blocks in its 2nd open acreage exploration licensing round. Previous rounds have been dominated by local firms.
2018
Sep 2018: FPSO Dhirubhai-1 is to cease production on the MA field operated by Reliance (60%) with BP (30%) and Niko (10%) in Block KG-DWN-98/3 (KGD6). The MA field lies in 1200 m of water, has an oil production capacity of 60,000 bbls and exports gas onshore. It was discovered in 2006, started liquids production in 2008 and gas sales in 2009, with 7 development wells tied into the FPSO.
Sep 2018: Vedanta (operator, 100%) notified the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) of a gas discovery in well A3-2 in a Mesozoic rift within block KG-OSN-2009/3 in the Krishna-Godavari Basin. It is the first well drilled within the block.
May 2018: ONGC and Vedanta put in the highest number of bids in the first round of auctions under India's Open Acreage License Policy (OALP) with no foreign companies expressing interest. Vedanta bid for all 55 blocks on offer, ONGC put in 37 bids, Oil India put in 18 bids and GAIL put in six. Indian Oil, Bharat, Selan Exploration, Hindustan Oil and Sun Petrochemicals also bid for blocks.
Apr 2018: ONGC started commercial production at a new Onshore Gas Terminal in Odalarevu in Andhra Pradesh, processing gas from 3 wells in the integrated development of the Vashishta (VA) & S1 fields in the KG Basin at water depths of up to 700m. Output will reach around 2 bcm a year.
Apr 2018: BP and Reliance have sanctioned the second phase of the Block KG D6 development (the Satellite 4-field cluster project), in 1,700m of water in the Bay of Bengal. The first of the projects (the R-Series gas fields), was sanctioned in 2017. Together, the 3 projects will develop around 85 bcm of gas peaking at 12 bcm a year in 2022.
Feb 2018: India will auction 60 discovered small oil and gas fields. Blocks were originally controlled by ONGC and Oil India but the fields are undeveloped due to their small size and high cost of development. The previous auction of small fields in 2016 was dominated by small Indian bidders.
Jan 2018: India will auction 55 exploration blocks (65% onshore, mostly in Assam, Gujarat and Rajasthan). It is the 1st licensing round for 8 years after only a muted response from oil companies In previous rounds. Contracts are expected to be signed by the end of July.
2017
Sep 2017: ONGC has discovered a reportedly large oil field to the west of its Mumbai High offshore fields in well WO 24-3. ONGC tested 9 zones, one of which yielded over 3,000 bbls of oil per day. The company plans to drill appraisal wells.
Sep 2017: India aims to acquire 48,243 line kilometres of seismic data in 5 years to boost its output by offering more areas for exploration. Oil India (northeastern states) and ONGC will carry out the 2D seismic survey in areas across 24 states.
Jun 2017: BP and Reliance will award contracts to develop the R-Series deep water gas fields in Block KGD6. They will be developed as a subsea tieback to the existing platform in Block KGD6 and is the first of 3 projects in the Block that will bring up to 12 bcm per year of gas onstream from 2020 to 2022.
May 2017: Oil India Limited (OIL) has made 2 hydrocarbon discoveries in the Moran Petroleum Mining Lease (PML) in the Upper Assam Basin. Wells Borbhuibil-1 and Lakwagaon-1 tested oil in sands of the Barail and Lakadong formations.
Apr 2017: ONGC is to start-up the Daman project soon in the Gulf of Cambai. Gas from the phase I will contribute around 0.9 bcm of gas a year from May 2017. Phase 2 will be completed by May 2018 and add another 1 bcm and it will eventually be ramped up to 2.9 Bcm a year by 2020.
Feb 2017: India has approved the award of operating licences for 31 contract areas (23 onshore and 8 offshore) after receiving bids for 34 of 46 oil and gas fields that were auctioned in May 2016.
Feb 2016: ONGC will develop the offshore North West B-173A oil and gas field as part of its Western Offshore facilities. The field, discovered in 2014, is 5 kms northwest of the B-173A field and 25 kms north of the Neelam field in 55m of water. Development involves a WH platform, pipelines and 3 wells. It will come onstream in 2019.
2016
Nov 2016: Niko Resources has put its 10% interest in the D6 deep water block up for sale. Sales volumes are declining due to depletion, partially offset by incremental production from sidetracks and reactivations. Drilling of the first of 2 sidetracks in the MA field began in June.
Oct 2016: Cairn announced that the Mangala oil field has achieved 300 mm bbls of cumulative production. Mangala is produced with the Bhagyam, Aishwariya and Raageshwari fields in the Rajasthan block. Cairn launched polymer injection at Mangala in 2014.
May 2016: Reliance is preparing to restart work in 4 offshore oil and gas blocks, including the deepwater KG-D6 block in the Krishna Godavari basin, focusing on the R-Cluster, Satellite and MJ discoveries. Production of gas from the D6 block has fallen 85% to 3.2 bcm each year. Reliance is a partner with BP and Niko.
May 2016: The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is set to launch a bidding round for 67 discovered small fields in 46 Contract areas spread over 9 sedimentary basins in onshore, shallow water and deep water areas. These fields were discovered by the NOCs and are being offered under a revenue sharing contract model.
Apr 2016: Oilex (operator, 40%) and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC, 60%) announced the commencement of gas production from the Bhandut field in onshore Gujarat. Gas produced from Bhandut-3 is processed at the on-site facilities and then delivered to a gas processing plant where it is further treated to required pipeline specifications.
Mar 2016: ONGC approved the US$5.08 bn Field Development Plan (FDP) for the development of Cluster 2A (oil and gas) and Cluster 2B (gas) fields in deep water block KG-DWN-98/2 in the Krishna-Godavari Basin. The field will be developed with 35 wells, a gas processing platform and an FPSO. First gas is planned for 2019 and first oil for 2020.
2015
Jul 2015: BG (operator, 30%), with ONGC and Reliance, began oil production from Mukta-B (MB), a 4-legged WH unmanned platform in the offshore Bombay basin. The MB and MA pipelines have also been completed enabling restart of production from the MA platform after 2.5 years.
Apr 2015: Oilex announced the completion of the Cambay-73 oil and gas production facilities Construction of the gas pipeline has commenced with final commissioning expected in June 2015. Cambay-73 will produce 50 to 60 bbls of oil equivalent of gas and condensate.
Apr 2015: The country intends to auction 69 marginal oil and gas fields owned by ONGC. Meanwhile ONGC and Oil India will invest US$6bn in exploration and production in financial year 2015/2016 to try to arrest declining oil and gas production.
2014
Sep 2014: Cairn India, part of Vedanta, has made 3 new discoveries in west Rajasthan taking its total oil discoveries in the block to 36. One well is close to the Mangala field. The company is spending US$3bn over 3 years to boost oil and gas output from Rajasthan.
Sep 2014: ONGC announced that it will invest US$863 mm on the Daman gas and condensate development in the Tapti Daman Block in the Arabian Sea. The project covers the C-24 and B-12-11, B-12-13 and B-12-15 fields. Production is planned to commence in 2016 and facilities will include 7 well head platforms and 1 riser platform with pipelines and 28 wells.
Jul 2014: ONGC approved the proposal for redevelopment of the Mumbai High (North) field with a capital investment of US$950 mm. Facilities include installation of 5 platforms and drilling of 52 wells and 24 sidetracks. Overall project completion is scheduled for May 2017.
Feb 2014: GSPC has declared the commerciality of 6 discoveries (KG-16, 22, 31, 21, 19 and 20SS) within the Deen Dayal field in Block KG-OSN-2001/3 of the Krishna-Godavari Basin. Gross recoverable gas is estimated at up to 133 bcm with initially 25 development wells required to recover proven gas of 29 bcm. The areas excludes the DeenDayal West and extension areas.
Jan 2014: The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas has announced 46 blocks in the 10th round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy. Under NELP X, 17 onshore, 15 shallow water and 14 deep water water blocks, covering an area of 166,053 sq kms in 13 sedimentary basins, will be offered for competitive bidding.
Jan 2014: India plans to offer at least 56 exploration blocks in its first auction of licenses in 2 years. India is hoping that a recent gas pricing reform will increase interest from foreign companies. Previous exploration rounds were dominated by local firms, mainly ONGC. The ministry plans to invite bids for the blocks in February.
Jan 2014: ONGC will invest US$9 bn to develop oil and gas discoveries in the Krishna Godavari basin. ONGC has made 11 discoveries in Block KG-DWN-98/2, next to Reliance’s KG-D6 Block and Gujarat State Petroleum's Deendayal gas field. The block is divided into a Northern Discovery Area (NDA) and Southern Discovery Area (SDA). Cairn still holds 10% in the block.
2013
Oct 2013: It has been pointed out that only two blocks out of 254 blocks awarded under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) since 1991 have begun production. This not only reflects the bureaucratic drawbacks of operating in India, but also points to a lack of geological potential and commercial prospects over a large part of the sub-continent.
Oct 2013: ONGC has discovered oil in block KG-DWN-98/2 in the Krishna-Godavari basin off the Andhra Pradesh coast, earlier believed to hold predominantly gas. Oil has been struck in 3 out of 6 appraisal wells drilled and is in addition to the large gas reserves the block is believed to hold. Gas production is planned to commence by 2018.
Sep 2013: The government is allowing state companies to explore for shale oil and gas on acreage already awarded. The policy covers acreage held by Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India. Of about 356 blocks, India's regulator has said 176 could hold shale resources. The wording of contracts for blocks awarded later (e.g. to Reliance, BG and Cairn) has been interpreted to exclude unconventional energy. The ministry is proposing an inclusive licence for future acreage.
Sep 2013: ONGC, with 30%, has approved a US$560 mm project to enhance oil recovery at the Rajasthan oilfields. Cairn India, the operator with 70%, submitted an EOR plan in 2012 for the Mangala oilfield, the largest of the 26 finds it has made in the Barmer district. The joint venture will drill 48 infill wells up to Mar 2014.
Apr 2013: Cairn has made its 26th discovery in the RJ-ON-90/1 block of the Barmer Basin in Rajasthan. Raageshwari-South-1 drilled a 10m oil column within the Dharvi Dungar Formation.
Apr 2013: India may offer 68 blocks in the 10th round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP), 25 in deep waters, 20 in shallow waters and 23 onshore. This will be the second highest offering since NELP began in 1999. The government has awarded 254 blocks in previous rounds. NELP VIII was the largest with 70 blocks offered but only 32 awarded. In NELP VII, 41 blocks out of the 57 were awarded while NELP VI achieved 52 out of 55 blocks.
Mar 2013: Cairn and ONGC have commenced production from Aishwariya, the third largest field in the Rajasthan Block (RJ-ON-90/1). The Mangala, Bhagyam and Aishwariya (MBA) fields in the Barmer basin currently contribute over 23% of India’s oil production.
Feb 2013: Cairn has approval to drill exploration wells on the Rajasthan block that will help it boost output to 215,000 bbls per day by March 2014. These will be the first exploration wells on the block in over 5 years. The Mangala oilfield went onstream in 2009 and 170,000 bbls per day are now produced from the block. Cairn plans to drill 30 exploration wells over a period of just over a year.
Jan 2013: Reliance has shut-in its 8th well on the Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1&D3) gas fields in the Krishna Godavari basin, KG-D6 block with output at an all time low. Reliance has drilled 22 wells on the fields but has put only 18 on production. They started gas production in 2009 and reached a peak of 20 bcm per year in Aug 2010 before water and sand ingress. The same problem has led to shutting of one-third of the wells on the MA oil field in the same block, onstream in Sept 2008. Reliance has made 1 oil (MA) and 18 gas discoveries in the block.
South Asia
Excel files - histories and forecasts of production and wells in any category for all countries and regions
