14-02-03 Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) said it has discovered a major offshore oilfield with a reserve of 48 mm tons of crude oil and natural gas, marking its second petroleum find in 10 days. It said the latest discovery, off the coast of Bombay was in the periphery of the high-yield Bassein gas field in the Arabian Sea.
"The two well-drilling campaigns west of Bombay coast shows the presence of several hydrocarbon-bearing zones that are estimated to hold around 48 mm tons of oil and oil equivalent gas," a senior ONGC official announced.

Ten days ago, Britain's Cairn Energy found an oilfield in the desert state of Rajasthan with a reserve of 155 mm barrels, or 20 mm tons, of crude oil.
Besides the oilfield, the British firm also found a surprise gas field in the region, cradled in the acrid Thar desert. Bassein West currently produces 32 mm cm of natural gas every day while its eastern zone holds 3.5 tn cf of gas reserves besides crude oil.

ONGC said it would integrate the new finds and pump the yields through a 10 km submarine pipeline for processing before selling to domestic customers.
"The smaller discoveries are not commercially viable on their own. But if they are tied up with existing facilities, about 2 mm tons of additional crude oil can be produced in the next two years," the official said.