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Indian Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has begun a Rs 4.0 billion drilling campaign in Bengal offshore after a gap of around 15 years.
A jack-up rig hired from Transocean began drilling a well 170 km south of Kolkata and 68 km south of West Bengal coast on March 22, a company release said, reports BDNEWS.
"Falling in exploration block WB-OSN-2000/1, awarded to ONGC under second round of New Exploration Licensing Policy, this is the first among four wells to be drilled in this block," it said.
Transocean Nordic is one of the four special rigs to carry out drilling in adverse climatic conditions like currents and cyclones. The well is targeted to reach a depth of 5000 metres next month.
The last exploratory drilling was taken up in the Bay of Bengal in late eighties without any encouraging results. The recent gas finds in adjoining basins like Mahanadi and Krishna Godavari offshore have enhanced prospects of West Bengal offshore.
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