India begins ‘oil production’ from Krishna-Godavari Deep Water block, expected to produce 45,000 barrels a day

Union Minister for petroleum and natural gas Hardeep Singh Puri has announced the commencement of "first oil" production from Krishna Godavari Deep-Water Block 98/2 in the Bay of Bengal. The extraction of oil happened on Sunday, 30 kilometres off the coast of Kakinada in the Krishna Godavari Basin.

Taking to X(formerly Twitter), Puri hailed the achievement as a major boost to the Modi government's "Atmanirbhar Bharat" campaign. The minister highlighted that 45,000 barrels of oil is expected to be produced per day. Additionally, 10 million cubic metres of gas per day, will also be produced.

“First Oil” production commences from the complex & difficult deepwater KG-DWN-98/2 Block, situated off the coast of Bay of Bengal. Production is expected to be 45,000 barrels per day & over 10 million cubic metres of gas per day, contributing towards an energy #AatmanirbharBharat," Puri posted on X.

"This project is expected to add 7% to current national oil production & 7% to national Natural Gas production!," he added.

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In an interaction with the media on Monday, Puri informed that work on the project had started in 2016-17 but there were some delays due to the Covid pandemic. He revealed that four of 26 wells are already operational.

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation(ONGC) also gave details about the successful achievement.

“#ONGC commenced its ‘First Oil flow to FPSO’, from Krishna Godavari Deep-Water Block 98/2 (in Bay of Bengal) on 7 January 2024, nearing completion of Phase-2 of the project. Phase-3, leading to peak Oil and Gas production, is already underway and likely to be over in June 2024. The 98/2 project is likely to increase ONGC’s total Oil and Gas production by 11 percent and 15 percent respectively,” the company posted on X.

What PM Narendra Modi said on the extraction of oil

PM Modi hailed the achievement as a "remarkable step" in India’s energy journey. Taking to X(formerly Twitter), he wrote: "This is a remarkable step in India’s energy journey and boosts our mission for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. It will have several benefits for our economy as well."