ONGC plans new projects to boost industrial prospects

Tripura: The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has planned to drill over 20 exploratory wells and a number of development wells in the current ninth Plan period in Tripura with a view to wooing industry in the State.

Stating this, ONGC's Tripura project group general manager Pranab Kumar Adak said that the ONGC boasts of its substantial production potential of about three million cubic metre of gas per day from its three fields. The prime constituent of gas is methane (95-97 per cent) and has been utilised at present for power generation and domestic consumption in the State.

About 90 wells have so far been drilled with a high success ration of 2:1 and all the gas accumulations are found in the sandstone reservoir within a depth range of 700 to 3200 metre within Bokabil and Bhuban formations of Surma group, Mr. Adak said, adding that the gas reserve established in the State was 17 billion cubic metre.

The gas could be utilised by industries like thermal power plants, extraction of methanol, pilot plant for convergence into compressed natural gas (CNG), middle distillates, rubber industry, brick industry, domestic supply for cooking purposes besides a number of agro-based industries, Mr. Adak said.

The Institution of Engineers (India), Agartala local centre and the ONGC jointly organised a seminar on 'Utilisation of natural gas for the development of Tripura' recently.

Meanwhile during his recent visit, the Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas held a high-level meeting with the State Government and other oil organisations including the ONGC and Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) during his two-day visit to Tripura to formulate schemes and programmes for the use of natural gas found in abundance in Tripura.

The Tripura Government has embarked upon an ambitious Rs. 10 crore project called 'Agartala city gas project' to provide natural gas through pipeline to 30,000 consumers for domestic purposes. State Industry Minister Pabitra Kar has said that a high-level meeting was held in New Delhi recently with ONGC chairman B. C. Bora and GAIL chairman C. R. Prasad to implement the multi-crore project.

The Tripura and Assam Governments had jointly floated the Tripura Natural Gas Company (TNGC) in 1990 for transportation and distribution of natural gas through underground pipelines in the State. The TNGC had started its pilot project with 450 domestic consumers in 1990 at Badarghat areas, the outskirts of Agartala, and at present the number has reached to 1500 domestic consumers, four industrial and six commercial consumers, Mr. Kar informed.