Hindustan Oil Exploration Company (HOEC) will start oil and gas production from the B-80 block to produce 8,500 barrels of oil (bbl/d) and oil equivalent per day (bbloe/d) in April 2021.

B-80 block is one of the five wells that had been discovered in the Arabian Sea, off the Mumbai coast by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation in India (ONGC) and it produced 3,500 bbl/d. HOEC Managing Director, P Elango, stated that HOEC drilled a well in February 2020 and the other in April 2021. The two wells will produce 5,500-6,000 bb/d and 12-15 cubic feet per day (cf/d) of gas production. The company also turned the old jack-up rig into a mobile offshore process unit (MOPU) to produce and store oil offshore and transfer it to refiners.

Additionally, He added that the MOPU stores 900,000 bbl, and the gas will be delivered to the Gujarat market to benefit from ONGC’s gas pipeline system. HOEC raised its stake in the block to reach 60% instead of 50%. The company will cover 100% project funding with all facilities such as pipelines, installation, and commissioning of MOPU and installation of Floating Storage & Offloading (FSO) unit. MOPU and FSO will be owned by HOEC’s subsidiaries. Elango mentioned that “we are convinced that B-80 Block holds a larger resource base and has potential for a longer plateau of production. We have built a track record on execution and are committed to deliver first oil in April 2021.”