ONGC Videsh Reveals New Oil Discovery In Columbia

In a major development, ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL), the wholly owned subsidiary and overseas arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC) has revealed on June 23 that it had made an oil discovery in Llnos Basin region of Columbia.

In its press release on BSE the company said, "It has made an oil discovery in the recently drilled well, Urraca-IX, in CPO5 block, Llanos Basin, Colombia. Well, Urraca-1X was spudded on 20th April 2022 and drilled to target depth (TD) of 10956 ft., encountering 17 ft thick oilbearing sands at a depth from 10201ft -10218 ft."
During initial testing with Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP), fluid flowed @ approx. 600 bbl./day with around 40-50% W/C and oil of 16o API. Oil discovery in the Lower Mirador play in this well opens up new areas for further exploration in the northern part of the block."

ONGC Videsh has earlier discovered commercial oil in the Lower Sand pay in Mariposa and Indico fields in the block in 2017 and 2018 respectively, which are currently commercially producing @ 20,000 bbl oil per day.

Block CPO-5 was awarded to ONGC Videsh Limited in the 2008 bid round of Colombia. ONGC Videsh holds 70% participating interest (PI) in the block along with operatorship, remaining 30% is held by partner Geopark. ONGC Videsh has a significant presence in oil & gas sector in Colombia, with three other exploratory blocks in the country and joint ownership of the oil producing company Mansarovar Energy Colombia Ltd (MECL).

The current share price of ONGC is Rs 134 apiece with a negative return of 0.04 in today's trade. The company has a market capitalization of Rs 169,582 crore. It is a company with strong financials.