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Informist, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025

 

By Narayana Krishna

 

--Source: Environ panel seeks fresh plan from ONGC to develop KG Basin wells

--CONTEXT: ONGC sought green nod for 172 onshore wells' drilling plan in Jul

--Source:ONGC to soon give fresh plan for KG Basin onshore wells development

--Source: ONGC plans INR-81-bln capex to develop 172 wells in KG Basin 

 

HYDERABAD - The Expert Appraisal Committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forest has returned a proposal submitted by Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd. for development of 172 wells in onshore blocks in the Krishna-Godavari Basin in Andhra Pradesh, asking the company to submit a revised plan with specific measures that the company intends to take to address objections raised by the locals, a source told Informist.

 

The Expert Appraisal Committee had sought a revised action plan with specific measures to address the issues raised by the local residents, according to a document reviewed by Informist.

 

The company plans to drill 172 onshore wells, which fall under the Petroleum Mining Lease category, known as PML blocks. ONGC had drawn up a well-development plan with an estimated capital expenditure of INR 81 bln and submitted it to the environment ministry for approval in July, the source said.

 

"During the public hearing, many participants raised concerns about the movement of heavy vehicles leading to severe road deterioration, cutting of trees without compensation, and demands for road widening and new construction. However, ONGC's action plan was largely generic and failed to specifically address these issues," the expert panel said asking the public sector upstream oil and gas company to submit a revised plan.

 

The proposed wells were allocated to ONGC by the government under the Petroleum Mining Lease scheme on a nomination basis. The company plans to develop wells located in eight PML blocks spread across Konaseema, West Godavari, and Krishna districts of Andhra Pradesh. According to the source, ONGC conducted public hearings in all three districts and received several objections from locals, source said. 

 

The committee had observed that ONGC failed to provide any specific plan to address the issues of roads and safety of locals.

"For damaged roads and accident cases, the responses were limited to standard statements such as "approach roads are constructed or repaired as per ONGC standards," without providing location-specific plans, timelines, or commitments for safety improvements," Expert Appraisal Committee said.

 

"Overall, the responses lacked specificity, measurable commitments, and direct relevance to the issues raised. Hence, the PP (project proponent) shall submit an issue-specific action plan for the public hearing," the Committee said.

 

Locals fear that heavy vehicle movement and exploration-related operations could create frequent traffic congestion and disturb normal life around the development areas. Since locals raised several operational concerns during the public hearings, the committee suggested providing the proposal with a committed action plan.

 

The company is expected to submit its revised plan at the upcoming meeting of the Expert Appraisal Committee, the source added. ONGC did not respond to e-mail queries on the matter.

 

ONGC has drilled 26 wells in KG Basin so far, of which 13 wells are oil producing and seven have natural gas reserves, according to some reports. The company is producing 12,000 barrels of oil per day and nearly 0.4 million metric standard cubic meters per day of gas, the reports said.

 

For the June quarter, ONGC had reported a net profit of INR 80.24 billion on a revenue of INR 320.03 billion. At 1203 IST, ONGC shares were trading at INR 235.57 on the National Stock Exchange, down 0.6% from its previous close.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Vandana Hingorani

 

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