Govt Goes Into Action Mode on National Deepwater Mission

The quest ■ Identification and allocation of reserves ■ Drilling of stratigraphic wells, carrying out seismic surveys ■ Creating a corpus of funds

- SUDHEER PAL SINGH

The Centre is ramping up action on the ambitious plan for rolling out the National Deepwater Mission. It would quickly start production from mega oil and gas reserves locked in deepwater and ultra-deepwater areas of the country's offshore basins, and boost self-reliance in the hydrocarbon sector.

As part of the preparatory activity under the mission, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his August 15 speech, the petroleum ministry and top oil and gas public sector undertakings (PSUs) are discussing action on multiple fronts. These include identification and allocation of reserves, drilling of stratigraphic wells, seismic surveys under the National Seismic Programme (NSP), and creating a dedicated corpus of funds for works under the mission.

With an objective to encourage exploration in deep and ultra-deep offshore areas, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) has allocated ₹3,200 crore to undertake works for four stratigraphic wells.