ONGC to Drill Well in Bihar | 26 Mar 2024

Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) plans to drill a well in Bihar to look for oil and gas.

A commercial discovery will put the state on India's oil map and also open up for exploration the entire Ganga basin stretching from Bihar to Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

The company has acquired 3D seismic data for 300 sq. km for its block in Samastipur and is set to drill two exploratory wells.
- The first drilling will be carried out in 2024.
- Besides this, the oil and gas producer also plans to drill an exploratory well in another block in the Ganga basin in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh.
Data from the first well's drilling will help guide the company's plans for the rest of the exploration block, including drilling of the second well.
- Both blocks in Samastipur and Ballia were obtained in the fourth Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) round a few years ago.

It is a Maharatna Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) of the Government of India.
It was set up in 1995 and is under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
It is the largest crude oil and natural gas company in India, contributing around 70% to Indian domestic production.

The headwaters of the Ganga called the ‘Bhagirathi’ are fed by the Gangotri Glacier and joined by the Alaknanda at Devprayag in Uttarakhand.
At Haridwar, Ganga emerges from the mountains to the plains.
The Ganga is joined by many tributaries from the Himalayas, a few of them being major rivers such as the Yamuna, the Ghaghara, the Gandak, and the Kosi.