Shell, Reliance and ONGC JV transfer the Panna Mukta fields back to ONGC

After 25
years of operating the Panna Mukta oil and gas fields, the Panna-Mukta and
Tapti (PMT) Joint Venture partners will be handing over it back to the
Government of India’s nominee ONGC on 21st December 2019.

The PMT JV
constituents include Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), Reliance
Industries Limited (RIL) and BG Exploration & Production India Ltd
(BGEPIL), each holding 40%, 30% and 30% participating interest respectively.

The
Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) for the Panna-Mukta and Tapti fields, which
were executed by the PMT JV with the Government of India in 1994, will expire
on December 21, 2019.

 The Tapti fields had ceased production earlier
in 2016 and the Tapti process platform facilities were handed over to ONGC (GOI
nominee) in 2016.

Decommissioning
and Site Restoration of residual Tapti facilities, including five unmanned
platforms and in-field pipelines, are currently being carried out by the PMT JV
under India’s first offshore Decommissioning & Site Restoration project.

The Tapti
Decommissioning and other commercial activities would continue in BGEPIL even
after Panna-Mukta handover.

The PMT
fields were the first fields in India to be operated under a Joint Operatorship
model. The Panna-Mukta fields, off the Mumbai coast, have produced 211 MMBBLs
of Oil and 1.25 TCF of natural Gas since December 1994.

 In 2019, the average monthly production from
the fields was 10,000 bbls/day of crude oil and 140 mmscf/day of natural gas.

Speaking on
the occasion, Trivikram Arun, Managing Director, BGEPIL said “The PMT JV is a
great example of a successful partnership between India’s largest National Oil
Company (ONGC), India’s largest private company (Reliance) and an International
Oil Company (Shell). Shell is proud to have been part of this journey and
privileged to have partnered with Reliance, ONGC and the Government of India.
Our teams have worked relentlessly to ensure a safe handover of the producing
fields from the PMT JV to ONGC at the end of the term”.

Speaking on
the occasion B Ganguly, President – E&P, Reliance Industries said “At their
peak, Panna-Mukta have contributed to nearly 6% of India’s Oil production and
almost 7% of India’s Gas production in the year 2007-08. Reliance has been a
part of this journey and contributed, by providing energy, to the growth and
development of India’s oil and gas sector.”