On January 8, ONGC announced that the “First Oil” production had been successfully initiated from the deep-water KG-DWN-98/2 Block, located off the Bay of Bengal coast. ONGC’s total oil and gas output is expected to increase by 11 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively, due to this 98/2 project.
ONGC successfully implemented Phase 1 of the project in March 2020, enabling the commencement of gas production from the U field of the KG-DWN-98/2 Block in a record time of ten months. This was accomplished by overcoming a variety of technological and Covid-related hurdles.
With the beginning of this First Oil on January 7, 2024, ONGC is getting closer and closer to finishing Phase 2, which will culminate in the beginning of oil production from the ‘M’ field of KG-DWN-98/2.
Due to the waxy quality of the crude, the development of this field was met with a particularly difficult set of technical hurdles. To overcome these challenges, ONGC implemented a revolutionary technology known as Pipe in Pipe, which was the first of its type in India. Most of the fabrication works were carried out at the Modular Fabrication Facility at Kattupalli, which highlights ONGC’s commitment to promoting ‘Make in India’ and contributing to developing India’s self-sufficient energy sector. While some of the subsea hardware involved in this development was sourced from outside the country to fulfil particular requirements, most of the fabrication work was carried out at the facility.
It is anticipated that the remaining oil and gas fields of the block will be put into production by the middle of 2024, which indicates that the flagship project is proceeding as planned with the last phase of the project. The peak output of the field is anticipated to be above 10 million barrels of natural gas per day (MMSCMD) and 45,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd).
Situated in the Bay of Bengal, east of the coast of India, the KG-DWN 98/2 Block project of ONGC is the most extensive and intricate subsea undertaking in the Asia Pacific region. It entails the implementation of critical subsea infrastructure in ultra-deep water. McDermott is delivering u-Field and R-Field, the two gas systems, to ONGC’s gas fields. The structures for the project are being manufactured in India by Larsen & Toubro Hydrocarbon Engineering (L&T HE), which is executing the endeavour in a consortium.
The U-Field is currently linked to the Vashishtha subsea infrastructure of ONGC.
