(a) whether a company has been awarded the contract for exploring natural oil and gas in
Koshi and Gandhak basins in Bihar;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the said company has been engaged in drilling works for the last three to four
years; and
(d) if so, the details and the outcome thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS ( SHRIMATI PANABAAKA LAKSHMI)
(a)& (b): So far, a total of three exploration blocks have been awarded in Bihar under various
rounds of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) of which two blocks are in Ganga Basin and
one block is in Purnea Basin. Gandhak Basin falls within the Ganga Basin area and Koshi Basin
falls partly in the western part of the Purnea Basin area.
ONGC was awarded block PA-ONN-2004/1 during NELP-VI bidding round which covers part of Koshi
Basin and block GV-ONN-2005/3 during NELP-VII bidding round which covers part of Gandak Basin.
The Block PA-ONN-2004/1 had a work commitment of 1375 GLK/LK of 2D, 610 SKM of 3D seismic data
acquisition and drilling of 2 exploratory wells. Against these targets, ONGC acquired 1407
GLK/LK OF 2D, 895 SKM of 3D seismic data and drilled two wells namely Rasulganj -1 &
Bahadurganj-1. Both the wells were dry. The Block has been relinquished, during current
year 2013-14, after completing the committed work programme.
The Block GV-ONN-2005/3 had a work commitment of 510 GLK/LK of 2D, 50 SKM of 3D seismic data
acquisition. Against these targets, ONGC acquired 516 GLK/LK of 2D, 52 SKM of 3D seismic
data. Integrated G&G studies with newly acquired data are in progress.
(c)& (d): The status of drilling of exploratory wells and outcome thereof in the blocks
awarded in Bihar, is as under:
(i) ONGC has drilled 8 wells in the state of Bihar out of them 2 wells were drilled in
last 4 years period and all the wells were dry. The two wells Rasulganj-1 & Bahadurganj-1
were drilled in Kishanganj District in the block PA-ONN-2004/1. This block has been
relinquished during 2013-14.
(ii) At present, integrated interpretation of all G&G data including newly acquired seismic
data is being carried in GV-ONN-2005/3 block to assess the prospectivity and to identify
prospective locations for drilling.
(iii) One exploration block, GV-ONN-2002/1, operated by M/s Cairn Energy India Limited, has
been relinquished after drilling the exploratory well Havidih # 1 in 2009 which was found
to be devoid of hydrocarbons.