Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has announced the commencement of “first oil” production from Krishna Godavari deep-water block 98/2 in the Bay of Bengal. The oil was extracted on Sunday in the Krishna Godavari basin, 30 km off the coast of Kakinada.
Puri on X (formerly Twitter) described the achievement as a big boost to the Modi government’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat” campaign. The minister highlighted that production is expected to be 45,000 barrels of oil per day. Besides, 10 million cubic meters of gas will also be produced daily.
“First oil” production begins from the complex and difficult deepwater KG-DWN-98/2 block located off the coast of the Bay of Bengal. “Production is expected to be 45,000 barrels per day and over 10 million cubic meters of gas per day, which will contribute to energy #self-reliantIndia,” Puri posted on Twitter.
He said, “This project is expected to increase the current national oil production by 7% and national natural gas production by 7%!”
Speaking to the media on Monday, Puri said that work on the project had started in 2016-17 but there was some delay due to the Covid pandemic. He informed that four out of 26 wells are already operational.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) also informed about the successful achievement.
“#ONGC commissioned its first oil flow in FPSO from Krishna Godavari deep-water block 98/2 (in the Bay of Bengal) on 7 January 2024, nearing completion of Phase-2 of the project. Phase-3, which leads to peak oil and gas production, is already underway and is likely to finish in June 2024. The 98/2 project is expected to increase ONGC’s total oil and gas production by 11 per cent and 15 per cent respectively,” Company X posted.
PM Modi described the achievement as a “remarkable step” in India’s energy journey. “This is a remarkable step in India’s energy journey and promotes our mission of a self-reliant India. This will also have multiple benefits for our economy,” he wrote on Twitter.