ONGC STARTS '1ST OIL' PRODUCTION FROM DELAYED $5B DEEP-WATER PROJECT

The projectis on pace for its final phase, with the block’s remaining oil and gas fields set to go into production

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Oil production from the much-delayed flagship deep-sea project in the Krishna Godavari basin of the Bay of Bengal has begun, according to state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), which will help reverse years of output decrease. As per the statement released by the company, the ‘first oil’ from the deep-water KG-DWN-98/2 block in the Bay of Bengal began to flow on 7 January. Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also announced the start of production in a post on X but neither he nor ONGC gave out the amount of oil being produced.

“This 98/2 project is likely to increase ONGC’s total oil and gas production by 11 percent and 15 percent respectively,” ONGC said in the statement.