OREANDA-NEWS. ONGC, a leading E&P Company and a major operator in Indian deepwaters, has spudded a well in 10411 feet (3174 m) of water depth on 18th June 2013. The well # 1-D-1 in Exploratory Block KG-DWN-2005/1, off East Coast of India, is being drilled by rig DDKG1. This enabled ONGC to surpass its own earlier world record set in January 2013, for drilling a well in deepest water depth.

Over the years, ONGC has developed a formidable capability in ultra-deepwater drilling. Since 2004, ONGC has drilled over 100 deepwater wells. A large number of these wells are in daunting water depths beyond 5000 feet in environmentally and logistically difficult areas of Indian East Coast and West Coast, ranging from Gujarat offshore to Mahanadi offshore including 6 wells in Andaman offshore. Out of these, around 25 wells have been drilled in water depths of 5000 feet to 7500 feet and 16 wells in water depths of 7500 feet to 10000 feet. The current world record well # 1-D-1, which is under drilling, is the 3rd well in beyond 10000 feet water depth.

ONGC has achieved this commendable feat due to a sustained effort over the years to keep pace with latest technology in hydrocarbon exploration. Till 2003, ONGC's experience in deepwaters was limited to 2890 feet water depth. With an eye on the future thrust areas in hydrocarbon industry, ONGC upgraded its drillship Sagar Vijay from 1000 feet to 3000 feet water depth capacity in 1998 to explore deepwater acreages. To augment its effort to establish newer hydrocarbon finds, ONGC ventured deeper into offshore areas and deployed two ultra-deepwater rigs with 10000 feet and 6000 feet water depth capacities in November 2003 and February 2004.

ONGC is one of the few companies in the world to have drilled a large number of ultra-deepwater wells in diverse and challenging areas. Given its vast experience of drilling in deep/ultra-deepwaters with 3-5 such rigs in operation at a time, ONGC is a name to reckon with in ultra-deepwater drilling. ONGC has developed capability of dealing with any kind of complex problems associated with deepwaters, whether it is related to technology, geo-hazards or logistical management.

During its challenging journey of ultra-deepwaters, ONGC has managed its operations with unique Integrated Services concept which has resulted in a near zero controllable Non-Productive Time (NPT) for these extremely cost-intensive operations. This model has enabled induction of state-of-the-art technology for exploration of deepwater fields resulting in time and cost savings. This model has been appreciated globally as an effective means of managing deepwater exploration.

Having gone through the tough grind in deepwater operations during last fifteen years, ONGC is today fully geared up to stand up to any challenge in ultra-deepwater drilling operations in pursuit of energy security for the nation.