ONGC takes over Tapti gas field from its JV Reliance, BG

State-owned ONGC has taken over a part of the abandoned assets of the western offshore Tapti gas field from its joint venture partners Reliance Industries and BG and will use it to produce gas from its Daman fields.

The move will help save the company Rs 3,000-4,000 crore needed to build offshore infrastructure to produce gas from the Daman gas field as well as C-26 Cluster projects, ONGC Director (Offshore) Tapas Kumar Sengupta told PTI here.

"We plan to start producing gas from Daman using the abandoned Tapti facilities by August/September at the rate of 2 million standard cubic meters per day," he said.

Peak output of 8.35 mmscmd of gas and 9,286 barrels of condensate per day is likely by 2018-19, he said. C-26 Cluster will contribute another 3 mmcmd and about 2,000 barrels of condensate per day. With Mid & South Tapti field output declining rapidly, partners in the Panna-Mukta and Tapti fields - RIL, BG and ONGC, decided to abandon the field last year.

"Tapti at its peak produced 12 mmscmd of gas but the output dwindled to 0.1 mmscmd and partners decided to abandon it and return the field to the government. Government on its part handed over certain facilities of the field to ONGC to achieve early production from Daman," he said.

Abandonment means dismantling and removing infrastructure set up for production of oil and gas. Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) plans to use the Tapti field assets, which include sub-sea pipelines and gas gathering stations as well as process platform, to advance production of gas from its neighbouring Daman field.

The assets include Tapti gas processing platform, which received gas from sub-sea wells, removes water and other impurities before transmitting it to onshore. ONGC will lay a small length of pipeline from the Daman field to the process platform, which is connected by a 70-km pipeline to its facility at Hazira.

The official said the company is investing Rs 5,219 crore in bringing to production the Daman gas fields and another Rs 3,400 crore in C-26 Cluster. ONGC holds 40% interest in the Panna-Mukta and Tapti fields while RIL and BP have 30% each.

The joint venture will continue to operate the Panna- Mukta field, which primarily is an oil bearing field located 90-km north-west of Mumbai in the Arabian Sea. It currently produces 19,000 barrels per day of oil and 5-6 mmscmd of gas. The JV members signed the Tapti Asset Transfer Agreement yesterday with ONGC , Sengupta said.

This is first of its kind asset transfer agreement in India, demonstrating that facilities no longer required by an operator can be optimally used by another to expedite the field development activities and also to reduce capex burden.