Gas hunt: RIL, ONGC, BP may share $1-billion infra facility

Mumbai: State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), BP, and Reliance Industries (RIL) are exploring a $1 billion common offshore infrastructure facility in the Mahanadi basin to get natural gas and condensate from deepwater and ultra-deepwater fields, according to two industry executives.

The proposal mooted by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is at a preliminary discussion stage, with technical consultants expected to be appointed shortly, the executives added.

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The shared infrastructure model aims to reduce development costs, eliminate standalone facilities for smaller discoveries and improve operational efficiency and commercial viability.

ONGC, BP, RIL and the ministry didn't respond to queries.

"The facility is aimed at making deep water and ultra-deepwater discoveries commercially viable by allowing multiple operators to share infrastructure instead of investing in separate facilities, which can significantly increase project costs," said one of the persons cited.

It will also enable efficient pooling and evacuation of hydrocarbons while accelerating the monetisation of smaller and marginal discoveries. The initiative is particularly significant as deepwater and ultra-deepwater environments call for heavy capital expenditure and complex infrastructure requirements, which pose barriers to commercial viability.

It's yet to be decided whether the facility will be a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility or a fixed offshore installation.

An FPSO-based solution could potentially be brought to the location in a prefabricated form, while a fixed offshore facility could take longer to construct. Developing infrastructure of this scale would take at least three to four years. The facility would primarily handle natural gas, with some condensate also expected to be evacuated.

The concept is based on an internationally established model, with similar shared infrastructure facilities operating in several regions, including the North Sea. Under the arrangement, two or more developers jointly create infrastructure, which can subsequently be used by other producers on a tolling basis.

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India has been exploring ways to improve utilisation of existing oil and gas infrastructure and encourage greater collaboration among operators to increase domestic production. The common hub proposal extends this approach to deepwater and ultra-deepwater developments, where infrastructure costs are particularly high.