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Report No. 43 of 2015 - Complaince Audit on Ratna and R-Series Hydrocarbon Fields For the period ended 31 March 2015, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
Overview
BackgroundThe Ratna and R Series (R&RS) medium sized hydrocarbon fields are located in the Western Offshore area (at an average water depth of 45 metres) 130 kilometres southwest of Mumbai city. These fields were discovered and partially developed by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) in November 1979. ONGC had drilled 35 exploratory wells and 9 development wells and had installed one well cum production platform in one of the fields viz. R-12. Commercial production of Crude Oil and Natural Gas was started by ONGC from R-12 field in February 1983. The Government of India (GoI) decided in 1991 for inviting private parties in upstream oil sector. In 1993, GoI issued notice inviting offers for development of R&RS fields. ONGC stopped production of Petroleum from these fields from September 1994.
Following invitation of bids from private parties by GoI, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved (February 1996) award of contract in respect of R&RS fields to a Consortium of Successful Bidders (CoSB). Accordingly, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) issued (March 1996) a Letter of award of R&RS fields to CoSB. Thereafter, CCEA approved (March 1999) negotiation to be held by the Negotiating Team of Secretaries (NTS) for finalising and concluding Production Sharing Contract (PSC) within six months.
Records pertaining to R&RS fields of MoPNG and ONGC were examined.