ONGC Videsh Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), has spudded its first well Kanchan-1 in block SS04, Bangladesh, on Wednesday (29 September) at Maheshkhali Island.

This exploratory well is planned to be drilled to 4,200 m and will target two prospective formations. This well marks the beginning of exploratory drilling in Bangladesh by ONGC Videsh and will be followed by drilling at two more exploratory locations.

ONGC Videsh Ltd., in consortium with Oil India Ltd. (OIL), was awarded two shallow offshore Blocks SS-04 and SS-09 in Bangladesh during the Bid Round of 2012.

The Production Sharing Contract (PSC) was signed between ONGC Videsh, OIL and Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) in February 2014.

“ONGC Videsh, with Participating Interest (PI) of 45 per cent, is the operator with OIL (45 per cent PI) and BAPEX (10 per cent PI) as the other partners. BAPEX is being carried equally by ONGC Videsh and OIL up to the commercial discovery stage,” the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said.

All pre-drilling activities were completed with the rig being on location in late 2019 and with spudding scheduled for March 2020. However, the drilling had to be deferred due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

After easing restrictions and resolving the issues due to deferment of initial plans, in September 2021, the drilling of the well commenced on 29 September 2021.