Chennai, Nov 1: The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has launched a major oil hunt for the first time in the deep waters off the Krishna Godavari basin last week when its refurbished offshore rig Sagar Vijay commenced drilling operations at 530 metres depth in a structure off the Amalapuram coast in south Andhra Pradesh.The KG basin, perceived by the ONGC in the 1980s to have the hydrocarbon potential to produce a second Bombay High, will witness intensified exploration operations in the coming months as the corporation has identified two more locations for deep water drilling.
Sagar Vijay rig, operated by crew from a US firm whose maiden drilling venture off the Cauvery basin proved abortive, has since moved into the g 1-AD structure, 20 km off the AmalApuram coast for the second round of deep water Drilling.
The structure appears promising if one went by the three dimensional surveys conducted by the corporation and is situated next to to the oil bearing structure G-1.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.