News Detail

• State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has revised its production target for 2012. Sudhir Vasudeva, Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC told NDTV Profit that the company is aiming to produce about 28 million tonne (MT) of oil in 2012 and its outlay for 2012 stands at Rs 31,000 crore.“In 2013 and 2014, we will see the production ramping up to about 13 MT,” he said.Vasudeva spoke in detail about the Urea plant the company is planning to set up in Tripura. “We are also setting up a power plant to utilise the un-monetized gas,” he added.

• We will be producing about 28 million tonne of oil. Our last year's target was 27 million tonne and we hope to exceed that by 27.3 or 27.4 million tonne in the year 2012. Our outlay for the year 2012 is about Rs 31,000 crore. All our schemes, which are for monetization of marginal fields, will be coming on stream in the coming year as well as in 2013 and 2014.In 2013 and 2014, we will see the production ramping up to about 13 million tonne. Similarly, the gas production will see some rise.

• You have plans to set up a power plant in Tripura. Could you give us more details on the same?

• These are the plans under implementation. We had laid a foundation stone for setting a 726 megawatt power plant in 2005. This is now being set up under SPV, where ONGC has 50 per cent participation, while the Tripura government has 5 per cent. This company is called as Tripura Power Company.The first unit would be ready by May or June, while the second unit will be ready by in three months’ time. The second unit will be set up to monetise standard gas as we have been known for having huge resources of gas. We still had lot of gas available, so we decided to set up a power plant because it was not commercially feasible to bring the gas through pipeline to this country, where the market is available.

• You have huge reserves in Tripura, so any more potential or plans in Tripura?

• There is a lot of potential. In fact, we have made some discovery last year and the field is called Kubal. We are also in the process of the appraisal of that field. The honorable chief minister of Tripura has advised to see the requirements of the state, especially of the northern states, where the power will be associated.So, we should consider the possibility to set up a Urea plant because the north eastern states are having deficits of Urea. Moreover, we have a market of Urea in Bangladesh, so we are considering the possibility of setting up the plant.

• Power projects in the country face huge problem due to coal shortage. Do you have more plans in long term to go big in terms of power projects?

• The gas-based power plants are used for the peak power load and the base power loads are normally the thermal or hydrate, etc. Secondly, the gas location is entirely run by the empowered group of ministers although it is in our chartered to our article of association. We can produce power, but all depends upon availability of gas. Today even for us, the empowered group of ministers should confirm the location.

• Crude prices were determined more by geopolitical concerns last year. This year how do you see the prices panning out?

• I’m aware of the fact that oil prices would be around USD 100 to USD 120 per barrel. So, if political situations in the Middle East and the North African countries remain to be volatile, then they will cause concerns for all of us.

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