ONGC Videsh received the ‘Best Miniratna’ award at Dun & Bradstreet PSU Excellence Awards 2015 for its stellar management and leadership. The award was received by MD of ONGC Videsh Mr. N.K. Verma. presence of who’s in the corporate world.

N.K. Verma receiving the award

ONGC Videsh shared the stage with leading corporate houses of India like SAIL, GAIL, PFC, EIL, Hindustan Aeronautics, Container Corporation of India Ltd among many others. There were stringent yardsticks and tough competition in all the sectors as the awards were decided by eminent jurists on various parameters of performance and best practices across the industry.

N.K. Verma with the ‘Best Miniratna’ award

A far-flung location. Punishing weather conditions. Thick snow covers the expansive landscape. Sub-zero temperatures compounded by bitter winds. In this backdrop of harsh environs, a critical campaign took off, a first of its kind in Western Siberia.

The hard-to-recover reserves from tight reservoirs of Snezhnoye field in the Tomsk region of Siberia presented many challenges. Non-availability of experienced contractors did not deter the dedicated team of Imperial Energy. New Technology Induction brought exciting results and two horizontal wells of 1500m horizontal length each drilled in Naunak Formation of Snezhnoye field produced 58,000 m3/d of gas, 2313 bbl/d of liquid and 1037 bopd. The oil production is expected to reach 1200 barrels per day. Well is currently under stabilization. Earlier, single stage fracturing in horizontal wells in these tight formations yielded a maximum of 150 bopd and the rate was declining very fast.

Leading the campaign from the front were NK Verma, MD and PK Rao, Director (Operations), ONGC Videsh who visited the field along with CEO- Imperial Energy, S. Durga Prasad to review the activities. In the very exacting Siberian winter when the field temperature was as low as minus 35 degree Celsius, their presence gave the much needed impetus. Their guidance during the course of planning and execution was of great inspiration to team Imperial.

Review of Imperial Energy & Snezhnoye field visit

Around 80% of the reserves of Imperial Energy are locked up in low permeability tight reservoirs with very low permeability (hard-to-recover) and are difficult to exploit profitably with conventional methods.  After due diligence, Liberty Resources, a Denver, USA based company having wide experience in exploitation of hard-to-recover reserves through multistage fracturing in horizontal wells, was engaged as technology partner.

Imperial Energy is a fully owned subsidiary of ONGC Videsh Ltd., an international arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. Imperial Energy assets are located in Tomsk region, Russia, which is a part of West Siberian petroliferous Basin. The imperial acreages are located around Ob River. A cornerstone for Imperial Energy, this breakthrough will bring much desired turnaround and pave way for future successes.

Hydro-Fracturing Fleet at Well SN#520, Snezhnoye Field

The statuesque ashoka, arjuna and saptparni trees looked on with interest, as all roads and their tributaries led to India Gate this Sunday in Delhi, where thousands of yoga enthusiasts headed to celebrate the first International Yoga Day and be a part of a historical moment.

The ONGC Videsh team reached early at the atrium of Kailash building, on KG Marg. The morning was hot and humid but the energy did not dissipate. Gradually a gusty wind picked up speed, as if in appreciation of the early morning big turnout, and the champa trees in the courtyard did some amazing yoga postures. Lightening pierced the pallid sky and rain drops descended in a rhythm. The atrium by now was full and yoga experts Mr JK Sahni and Mr Shankar Thakur, who had kindly agreed to conduct the workshop, commenced the session.

The high ceiling of Kailash building resonated with the Om chant of the capacity crowd. The placid lake of ink blue, the vibrant colour representing ONGC Videsh, moved in unison. Leading from the front were Mr SP Garg, Director (Finance), Dr. Anil Bhandari, Director (Exploration), Mr PK Rao, Director (Operations), and senior officials of ONGC Videsh.

With many poses that aimed to relax body and mind, the session ended with shavasana.

Outside the grey skies opened at seams. Delhi that was reeling under the heat wave got some respite as the rain seemed to bestow blessings from the heaven. A befitting finale to a lovely morning of the Summer Solstice.

Hindi Workshop Organised in ONGC Videsh Ltd

Demonstrating the spirit and ethos of a responsible global corporate, ONGC Videsh observed World Environment Day 2015 on June 5 on the theme ‘Seven Billion Dreams, One Planet, Consume with Care’ by emphatically reiterating its commitment to environmental sustainability and sustainable development.

Mr. Narendra K. Verma, Managing Director, who was overseas, through his message called upon every employee to improvising further to meet society’s expectations for environmental and social performance from oil & gas sector.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. S.P. Garg, Director (Finance) & Officiating MD stressed upon the need of individual efforts by following the principle of ‘Reduce-Reuse-Recycle’ to arrest the rapid environmental decline. He stressed that the environmental drive should not be limited just for one day but should spread throughout the year in various areas like use of energy efficient equipment, use of LED in place of incandescent bulbs, using public transport, avoiding use of plastic bags, switching off equipment when not in use etc.

Mr. Anil Bhandari, Director (Exploration) explained the global climatic changes in terms of geological timeline and impact. He referred to 3D modeling of Himalayas to show the effect of global warming on the glaciers and its likely impact on the mankind. He implored all to contribute towards environment protection, whether it was through planting a sapling or reducing waste.

Mr. P.K Rao, Director (Operation) highlighted the imperatives of sound environmental practices in the E&P industry as environmental clearance norms are becoming stringent day by day. He referred to some of the best practices adopted by our projects like drilling cluster wells (even upto 20) from same well pad, using reed plantation for treating produced water etc.

World Environment Day program in progress

 HSE group carried out week-long activities, which included awareness drive (mailing awareness presentations on daily basis), competitions for employees and their family members on the theme ‘Seven Billion Dreams, One Planet, Consume with Care’. An online quiz was also conducted. All these activities evoked great response, not only from those posted at HQ, but also from those posted overseas.

Informative short videos highlighting pressing environmental issues were also screened on this day. Through a brief presentation, Head HSE highlighted the theme and environmental issues being faced by oil and gas industry. Few case studies, where innovative techniques were deployed to mitigate environmental impacts in ONGC Videsh overseas operations, were shared with the jam-packed house.

EC members releasing memorabilia and giving away the prizes to the winners

Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Petroleum and Natural Gas visited Vienna, Austria to address the 6th OPEC international seminar. During his visit from June 2 – 4, the minister met top world leaders and held bilateral consultations with Secretary General of the OPEC. The minister was accompanied by CMD, ONGC Group of companies and MD, OVL during this high profile meet.

The meeting of the minister with Mr. Abdalla Salem El-Badri, Secretary General, OPEC on the sidelines of the 6th OPEC International Seminar and also with the Oil and Gas Ministers of various countries like Russia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Angola and UAE is an indication of India’s emergence as one of the world’s biggest energy consumers. This comes at a time when India, which features among top-five oil refiners, is looking to diversify its crude sourcing to Latin America.