State-owned ONGC announced that its iconic offshore drilling rig 'Sagar Samrat’ has been commissioned as a Mobile Offshore Production Unit (MOPU) on December 23, 2022. Sagar Samrat MOPU will handle up to 20,000 barrels per day of crude oil, with a maximum export gas capacity of 2.36 million cubic metres per day, ONGC said in a filing to the stock exchanges on Monday.

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Further, it is expected to add 6,000 barrels of crude oil per day to ONGC’s production in the coming days, according to the filing.

The first oil from the WO-16 cluster flowed into the processing system of MOPU and dispatch to the onshore terminal commenced. WO-16 is a cluster of four marginal fields in the Arabian Sea at a water depth of 75-80 m. The cluster is located 130 km from Mumbai, which is about 40 km from the Mumbai High.

“Since, no nearby facility exists to produce from this field, it was planned to install a MOPU for production, processing and transportation of oil and gas from WO-16 Cluster,” ONGC said.

The project to convert Jack-up rig Sagar Samrat into a MOPU was given to a consortium of Mercator Oil & Gas Ltd, Mercator Offshore and Gulf Piping Company on November 17, 2011.

After many hurdles such as the legal challenges and Covid-19, the MOPU was transported to India, on a heavy lift vessel and after statutory clearances, successfully installed close to the WO-16 wellhead platform in April 2022.

The company said that the Sagar Samrat conversion project is one of the most complex projects executed by it.

Brokerage Motilal Oswal Financial Services picked ONGC as the top pick in the oil and gas sector on Monday. The brokerage retained its 'Buy' call on ONGC with a target price of Rs 198 per share, making it the top idea for 2023 in the gas and petroleum sector.

At 1:44 pm, shares of ONGC were trading 0.66 percent lower at Rs 149.40 on the BSE on Tuesday.

(Edited by : Anshul)

First Published:Jan 3, 2023 1:48 PM IST