Chennai: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), which had tapped six billion tonnes of oil and natural gas in the past 45 years, is planning to double the production in the next 20 years, a top executive of the Corporation said in Chennai on October 10.

The total investment of ONGC on exploration during the 10th plan period would be Rs 46,000 crore, including Rs16,000 crore during 2003-04, Subir Raha, Chairman and Managing Director, told a press conference.

The investment expenditure would be met through internal accruals as the ONGC was now having a surplus and reserve cash of Rs 8000 crore. The total net worth of ONGC was now around Rs 34,000 crore.

Raha said besides its own Rig, Sagar Vijay, ONGC was planning to give contracts for deep water exploration. One Rig from Brazil, which is capable of undertaking explorations at 1800 metres will arrive in India by the end of January 2004.

Another Rig, capable of drilling at 3000 metres deep, would come from Cape Town by November 2003, Raha said adding these two ships would undertake the jobs on a three-year contract period. The total value of both these contracts, the biggest ever awarded in India, would be Rs 4500 crore, he said.

PTI