ONGC Oil: Will reverse the trend of decline in gas production, will invest billions of dollars in new discoveries
New Delhi. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the country’s largest oil and gas producer, will reverse the trend of decline in production this year. The company intends to gradually increase production. The company will invest billions of dollars for production from new discoveries.
The management of the company gave this information to the investors. ONGC produced 21.7 million tonnes of crude oil in the financial year 2021-22. It is converted into fuels like petrol and diesel. In addition, the company produces 21.68 billion cubic meters (BCM) of natural gas. It is used in the production of electricity, fertilizers. Also, it is used as CNG in vehicles.
In the current financial year (2022-23), crude oil production is estimated to increase to 22.8 million tonnes and gas production to 22.09 billion cubic meters. The company management gave this information in an interaction with investors after the second quarter results last week. Oil production is estimated to increase to 24.6 million tonnes in the next financial year and 25.6 million tonnes in 2024-25.
Natural gas production is expected to increase to 25.68 BCM in 2023-24 and 27.52 BCM in 2024-25. ONGC Director (Finance) Pomila Jaspal said, “We have reversed the trend of decline.” ONGC contributes about 71 per cent of the country’s domestic production. ONGC’s production fields are quite old.
Due to this, the production of the company has been gradually decreasing for more than a decade. The government was considering giving ONGC’s large oil and gas fields to private and foreign companies in an effort to boost production, but it has faced internal opposition. ONGC is now investing Rs 59,000 crore in 20 major projects.
This includes bringing into production the oil and gas reserves discovered in the deep-sea KG block KG-DWN-98/2 (KG-D5) and the fourth phase redevelopment of the Mumbai High field. The investment in KG-D5 will enable the company to achieve additional production. On the other hand, the redevelopment of Mumbai High and other areas will prevent the decline of production coming in the old areas.
