ONGC Videsh — the foreign investment arm of India’s biggest exploration company Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) — has submitted a draft field development plan to Iran for a gas-rich block that can help feed energy-starved India in the medium term.

The Farsi block boasts of gas reserves of about 22 trillion cubic feet (tcf) and recoverable reserves of around 13-14 tcf, similar to Reliance Industries’ Krishna-Godavari basin gas discovery. The block also has oil reserves estimated at around 1 billion barrels.
As per the understanding with Iran, Indian companies can buy back oil and gas as well as earn a margin on their production from the Farsi block. This, analysts believe, could serve as a substantial source for India.
The draft for developing the Farzad-B area has been submitted to Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC), the designated authority for development of the field, on April 18, 2009, two persons close to the development said.
An ONGC official confirmed that OVL’s commerciality report regarding the gas discovery has been approved by the National Iranian Oil Company on August 18, 2008. OVL expects to start gas production from the field in two years after approval of the development plan, the official said.
A consortium of three government-owned companies led by ONGC Videsh (OVL) had signed an exploration service contract for the Farsi block with Tehran in December 2002. OVL holds a 40% interest in the field.
While Indian Oil Corp owns a 40% stake in the property, Oil India Ltd has 20%. OVL is the operator of the block. The ONGC arm had drilled four wells in the Farsi offshore block between 2006 and 2007. All wells resulted in the discovery of both oil and gas. Three of these wells have been found to hold oil and one holds gas, one person close to the development said. The block, covering an area of around 3,500 sq km, is located in the Persian Gulf.
(Source: The Economic Times)