ONGC and OIL to energise 2D National Seismic Programme

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the National Seismic Programme (NSP) at Taranga in Odisha’s Balasore district on Wednesday. NSP aims to undertake a fresh appraisal in all sedimentary basins across India, specially where no or scanty data is available to have better understanding of the hydrocarbon potential of the country, officials said.

Under the programme, ONGC and OIL have been entrusted to conduct 2D seismic acquisition, processing and interpretation (API) across India. While ONGC has been assigned to carry out 2D seismic API of approximately 40,835 Line Kilo Meter (LKM) in onland part of 26 sedimentary basins in 18 states and union territories including Odisha’s Mahanadi basin, OIL has been assigned to carry out 2D seismic API of 7408 LKM in Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland.

The NSP for 2D seismic API Project will be completed by March, 2019, they said. Pradhan said the 2D seismic survey of unapprised area in Mahanadi Basin (Onland) would establish potential of hydrocarbon resources in the state. In the Mahanadi Basin, Bhadrak-Jajpur area of about 2189 LKM and Chilika Lake area of about 341 LKM have been identified covering primarily Keonjhar, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Mayurbhanj, Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts of Odisha.

High-resolution 2D seismic acquisition with cutting edge modern technology is planned in Mahanadi Basin area. The accquisition stage is scheduled from October 2016 to June 2018 while processing and interpretation are scheduled from July 2018 to December 2018, the officials said. The outcome would contribute to better understanding of sub-surface with petroleum systems across wider geological ages to explore the hydrocarbon reserves in Odisha. The total investment for the seismic acquisition in the onland Mahanadi Basin is Rs 79.57 crore. 

After the hydrocarbon potential of Odisha is established, exploration and production (E&P) activities would be taken up and attract significant investment to the sector in the state, Pradhan said.

“A gas pipe line of 2,600 km from Uttar Pradesh to Dhamara in Odisha at a cost of Rs 13,000 crore will be commissioned and work has already started in this direction,” he said, adding Odisha will become the gateway to eastern India.