ONGC aims to double acreage in 5 years

STATE-OWNED ONGC aims to double its domestic exploration and production acreage to 500,000 square kilometers over the next five years, its director-finance Vivek Chandrakant Tongaonkar told FE.

- ARUNIMA BHARADWAJ

"The government of India has opened up 1 million sq km of no-go areas. We have plans to be in about 500,000-sq km area within the next five years and we plan to spend additional ₹10,000 crore every year over the next five years focusing on exploration," he said.

Last year, ONGC acquired more than 32,000-sq km acreage taking its total area to around 180,000 sq km, the company's director-exploration Sushma Rawat had said. Currently, after formalisation of the ninth round of the open acreage licensing policy (OALP), ONGC's total acreage will be up to around 250,000 sq km.