ONGC plans to invest Rs 13,000 crore in Assam

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will invest over Rs 13,000 crore for exploration work across Assam in the next five years.

The company said it has signed an agreement with the Assam government for this.

“ONGC has signed an MoU with the Government of Assam for investing more than Rs 13,000 during next five years in Assam for enhancing its exploration and production (E&P) activities,” ONGC said in a release.

This investment is being made for drilling more than 220 oil and gas wells -- a mix of development and exploration ones -- across the state, it said.

“ONGC is giving impetus to its activities in alignment with the Prime Minister’s call for reducing import by 10% by 2022, and the North East Hydrocarbon Vision 2030,” it said.

The company recently received green nod to drill six development wells in five mining lease blocks in Jorhat and Golaghat districts of Assam at an estimated cost of Rs 240 crore, it said. ONGC had sought permission to drill 12 such wells.

The state-owned firm has discovered fuel in Babejia well under the Assam Shelf Basin during 2018-19.ONGC had produced 0.797 million metric tonnes of oil and 407.40 million metric standard cubic meters of gas from its operations in the state during the 2018-19 fiscal, the release said.

The company is currently executing 27 projects across the country at an investment of over Rs 86,000 crore.

These include 18 development and nine infrastructure projects.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC)