Shirish Nadkarni
OGJ Correspondent
MUMBAI, Aug. 27 -- India's state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) said it plans to drill four exploratory wells on its block off Bengal by yearend 2004. The drilling cost for the wells has been pegged at $61-65 million, ONGC estimated.
Originally, the drilling project was to have been completed in two phases, with the first well to be drilled this year and three more drilled next year.
ONGC had floated a tender for a rig which could work in shallow water and drill the first well but the tender failed to attract bids from international companies specializing in this technology or operating such rigs. As a result, the ONGC will float a fresh tender offer by yearend. Company officials said that, unlike the earlier tender, the bid this time would indicate that rigs would be used to drill at all four well locations.
Sources indicated that ONGC could expect a much better response since rig chartering companies would work on better economies of scale under the revised 4-rig tender. Moreover, the deployment period would be shorter for shifting the rig from one location to another, resulting in making the process cost-competitive.
Companies bidding for the revised tender also could bring more than one rig to take up exploratory well drilling simultaneously or within a stipulated time.
The draught of the drill locations on Hooghly River is slightly deeper than 5 m, making exploration a challenge. The Bengal offshore block had been awarded to ONGC under the second round of bidding in the New Exploration Licensing Policy.
ONGC already possesses comprehensive 2D and 3D seismic data for the region. Data are now being interpreted to identify the company's four drilling locations.
When ONGC had last called for bids, data for the entire region could not be provided since compilation for the entire region had not been completed.
Separately, ONGC has already started exploratory work on the Bengal onshore block near Contai in Midnapore district. One rig has been moved from central India to the drilling location. The approach road for moving heavy equipment to the site has already been constructed.