Mangaluru: The first cargo of ONGC’s newly explored crude oil on the Krishna Godavari Basin was received at Mangaluru Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) on Saturday.
This new crude oil, named KG 98/2, was brought to Mangaluru by a ship named Swarna Sindhu, which was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 2.
This sweet (low sulphur) indigenous crude is poised to be transformed into various fuels and petrochemicals at MRPL contributing to the Centre’s Atmanirbhar Bharat mission, MRPL Managing Director Mundkur Shyamprasad Kamath told reporters.
The coastal refinery with three separate crude distillation units and essential supporting infrastructure will process newer crudes. This has enabled it to have a diverse crude basket of 250 crudes from around the globe, of which more than 100 have already been processed in the refinery complex at Mangaluru.
The exploration at Krishna Godavari basin resulted from an investment of Rs 30,000 crore by ONGC in deep and ultra-deep field explorations fraught with natural and technical challenges. At its peak, this production is expected to reach 45,000 BOPD per day of crude oil and 10 million SCM per day of natural gas.
Kamath said crude oil production results from ONGC Group’s commitment and technical capabilities to contribute to the nation’s energy self-dependence. He informed that this crude oil would amount to a 7% increase in India’s crude oil and natural gas production potential at its peak.
