ONGC uses new drilling technology in Tripura

Agartala, Apr 17(PTI) ONGC has successfully drilled three gas wells in Tripura by using new technology, a senior company official said on Sunday.

The new technology - Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) proved to be beneficial in the state because conventional drilling could not be used in these geographical locations, said ONGC Tripura Asset Manager, Tarun Malik while speaking at a function.

"For the first time, MPD based drilling was done successfully in Tripura last year to reach out to those areas in West Tripura and Sepahijala districts where conventional drilling system falls short", he said, adding that testing of two drilled wells is yet to be done.

Earlier, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) had trouble in undertaking drilling work in some locations because of different geographical formations.

Malik said ONGC plans to undertake gas exploration in new geographical formation areas with the latest technology. "As of now, Tripura Asset is gas based and who knows if oil can be discovered in future. But, there is no guarantee of discovery of oil as of today. Only time will speak", he said.

Currently, ONGC supplies around 45 lakh cubic metre of gas per day against installed capacity of producing 50 lakh cubic metre of gas per day.

In Tripura, natural gas is used only for producing power generation in two mega power plants - NEEPCO’s RC Nagar plant and OPTC’s Palatana power plant. The demand for gas is less in the state due to lack of industrial consumption. PTI PS RG RG