ONGC increasing use of Enhanced Oil Recovery technology

14 Nov 2022 , 08:26 AM

The state-run business ONGC is placing its faith in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology, which has already helped it increase output from its aging onshore fields by 10% yearly.

By 2030, it hopes to have more than quadrupled the number of commercial EOR projects, an expenditure that might total hundreds of millions of euros.

The leading oil and gas producer in the nation has been working hard to increase production for years, but most of its producing areas have reached maturity and are now in a phase of natural decline. Using EOR techniques, which involve injecting chemicals, gas, or steam into the fields to force trapped oil out of the reservoir, it is hoping to recover more from its declining fields.

According to a business executive who talked to ET, ONGC is running six commercial and two pilot EOR projects that have produced a total of 14.6 million metric tonnes of additional oil since the projects’ inception.

There are currently five more approved and operational commercial schemes. Over the course of their existence, these projects are projected to produce an additional 3.2 million metric tonnes of oil. For its EOR projects, ONGC has so far invested roughly Rs1,500 crore.

According to the executive, EOR programs currently provide 10% of onshore production and about 3% of ONGC’s overall oil production. In 2021—2022, ONGC produced 19.5 million metric tonnes of crude oil.

The report stated that 27 commercial EOR projects will be operational by 2030 if all of the pilots are found to be suitable for commercialization. Using these initiatives from the fields, an additional 4-5% of recovery beyond conventional recovery is anticipated to be realized.

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