Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Limited has begun crude oil production from the Asokenagar-1 well, Bengal Basin in 24 Paragana district. This has made the Bengal basin India’s eighth producing basin, joining the ranks of Krishna-Godavari (KG), Mumbai Offshore, Assam Shelf, Rajasthan, Cauvery, Assam-Arakan Fold Belt and Cambay.
A company statement said, “The Asokenagar-1 well was completed as an oil producer under Early-Monetization Plan issued by the Government of India. This makes ONGC having discovered and put to production seven out of the eight producing basins of India covering 83 percent of established oil and gas reserves.”
According to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, there are 26 sedimentary basins in India, covering a total area of 3.4 million square kilometer. Of these, 16 are onland basins, 7 located both onland and offshore and 3 completely offshore.
ONGC said that it is had sent its first hydrocarbon consignment produced during well testing to Indian Oil Corporation Limited’s Haldia Oil Refinery on November 5, 2020.
This producing basin was dedicated to the nation by Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday. He commenced the formal production of oil by switching on the Sucker Rod Pump (SRP). Pradhan said that the discovery would contribute towards attaining the goal for reducing oil import dependence given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Addressing the ‘Urja Sangam’ conference during March 2015, Modi had said that India needs to bring down its oil import dependence from 77 percent in 2013-2014, to 67 per cent by 2022, when India will celebrate its 75th year of independence.
