ONGC seeks buyers for deep-water field in KG Basin

NEW DELHI: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation ( ONGC) is seeking buyers for gas from a new deepwater field in the KG Basin, which will be the first to supply under the new policy that allows companies to charge a much higher rate for output from challenging fields.

A well at Vashishta & S1 field off the eastern coast, one of many difficult gas fields that have been allowed by the government to extract higher price, has been producing for about a month, pumping out half a million standard cubic metres a day, said Tapas Kumar Sengupta, director (offshore) at ONGC.

The gas produced from this well is currently sold at $3.06 per unit, the government-set price available to domestic natural gas, he said. ONGC wants higher prices, but a global rate collapse may be a hurdle.

“This is a test case for ONGC. It is a challenge for ONGC to derive a strategy for getting the right price for all future production from deep water fields,” said Sengupta.