NEW DELHI: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, India’s state-owned hydrocarbon giant, has initiated a big buck pipeline replacement project that is crucial to the company’s production from key west coast fields, a top official said.
Pankaj Kumar, Director (Offshore), ONGC, said the $446 million project will ensure steady supply of oil and gas from ONGC wells spread across a whopping 40,000 square kilometres along the western coast.
ONGC operates some of India’s largest oil and gas fields in western offshore. A few of these fields are maturing and need investment which, in turn, enhances production.
“This project is important to ensure supply of oil and gas to our platforms so that the well fluid can be processed and the oil and gas can be pumped to the onshore terminal uninterruptedly. Pipelines which are in good condition help us do the job better,” Kumar said in a telephonic interview from the ONGC headquarters in Mumbai.
It needs to be mentioned here that the pipe replacement programme—referred to as PRP by ONGC employees—started way back in 2003. ONGC has carried out six expansion phases of its PRP over the past decade to sustain uninterrupted production of oil and gas and maintain the reservoir health through systematic water injection network.
The current project, which is the seventh phase (PRP-7), is being undertaken by engineering giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Hydrocarbon Engineering, a subsidiary of L&T that emerged as the lowest bidder. The other bidders were Abu Dhabi-based National Petroleum Construction Company, and a consortium led by Iranian Offshore Engineering & Construction. The repair and replacement work will be carried out across ONGC’s Mumbai High, Neelam Heera and Bassein and Satellite assets and some smaller discoveries and minor fields.
Tender for the project was floated in end 2021.
ONGC has earmarked a budget of nearly $5 billion for some of its turnkey projects, services and procuring materials for onshore and offshore development.
“The next phase of our PRP project is on the board and it will be executed in a couple of months,” said Kumar. He said a significant portion of the ONGC budget would be spent on onshore and offshore developments.
“It will enhance production and supplies for both domestic and industrial use. ONGC’s deep sea pipeline strength stretches up to 7,000 kilometres,” added Kumar. It is the largest in South Asia.
With the development of the fields over the years, vast infrastructure facilities were developed which consisted of process complexes, well platforms and a large network of subsea pipelines for transporting the well fluids, injection water and lift gas along with oil and gas export pipelines. The active pipeline network of western offshore spans more than 7,000 km, including trunk lines.
The western offshore fields of ONGC mainly consist of major fields like Mumbai High, Neelam and Heera, Bassein and several smaller discoveries/marginal fields. The major producer, Mumbai High field, was discovered in 1974 and put on production in 1976. Several development schemes have been implemented in the field over the years since inception.