ONGC has missed its oil production target for ASSAM in 2017-18. It had set a target to produce 5.9m barrels or 16,200 b/d over the fiscal but has produced only about 5.7m barrels or 15,700 b/d.
The ONGC is trying to achieve its ‘Mission 2600’ that aims to raise Assam asset production to 2600 t/d or 18,600 b/d.
For the ONGC to meet that target in 2018-19, oil production would have to increase by 2887 b/d or 18%. That is a tough ask because oil production has increased by only about 1% since 2016-17.
But Gas production in the Assam asset has shot up by 17% over the previous fiscal to 447m cm/y or 1.2m cm/d in 2017-18.
The ONGC has managed to sell as much as 190m cm/y or 520,000 cm/d, which is more than twice the target of 86m cm/y or 235,000 cm/d.
That has helped ONGC’s Assam asset make up on losses that has dropped by more than half from Rs799cr ($122m) in 2016-17 to under Rs300cr ($46m) in 2017-18.
Some optimistic sources feel 2018-19 might even be the year when the asset finally turns a nominal profit. That looks possible with ONGC managing to cut the cost of drilling per metre and reducing non-production time or downtime due to rig breakdowns.
In 2017-18, ONGC Assam Asset crossed its target to drill 23 development wells and six exploration wells in 2017-18.
“We achieved our target ahead of time and drilled as many as 25 development wells,” said a top ONGC Assam Asset official, but on condition of anonymity.
ONGC Assam asset also achieved its target of 178 workover wells in 2017-18. ONGC’s Assam asset includes eight major fields: Geleki, Lakwa, Rudrasagar, Lakhmani, Laiplingaon, Demualgaon, Charali and Changmaigaon.
ONGC’s sprawling Assam asset manages 47 oil and gas production installations and has a fleet of 18 drilling rigs and 16 workover rigs.