ONGC Seeks Permission for Expanded Operations in Ramanathapuram
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is seeking permission from the Tamil Nadu government to expand its oil and gas exploration activities in Ramanathapuram. ONGC's Asset Manager K V Ilango said that increased production from the district could help meet a substantial share of the state's gas requirement.
Ramanathapuram does not fall under the Protected Agricultural Zone, unlike other areas where new drilling has been restricted. This restriction led to a decline in ONGC's oil and gas production in Tamil Nadu, with gas production falling from 34 lakh to 26 lakh standard cubic meters and crude oil production declining from 1,090 tonnes to 550 tonnes.
Tamil Nadu consumes around 1.5 billion standard cubic meters of gas annually, but domestic production meets only about half of this demand. ONGC has already drilled over 760 oil wells in Tamil Nadu, with nearly 400 of them being extracted and the land returned to farmers.