Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) has started oil production from the Asokenagar-1 well, Bengal Basin in West Bengal’s 24 Paragana districts. With this latest development, Bengal Basin has joined the ranks of Krishna-Godavari (KG), Mumbai Offshore, Assam Shelf, Rajasthan, Cauvery, Assam-Arakan Fold Belt and Cambay.
In a statement, the public sector energy major said that Union Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday dedicated Bengal Basin, the eight producing basins of India to the nation.
Pradhan, while dedicating the Asokenagar discovery to the nation, said that the discovery would play a role for India’s energy security. He stated that the discovery would be definitely added to the government’s commitment towards reducing oil import dependence.
The ONGC statement said, “the well Asokenagar-1 has heralded the end of painstaking search for hydrocarbons in the region by ONGC by sending its first hydrocarbon consignment produced during well testing to IOCL’s Haldia Oil Refinery done earlier on 5 November 2020.”
As per the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, there are 26 sedimentary basins spread across India, covering a total area of 3.4 million square kilometres.
Till now, ONGC has invested Rs 3,361 crore to explore hydrocarbon in the Bengal Basin. More Rs 425 crore will be spent on exploration activities in the basin in the coming two years.