KARAIKAL: The Cauvery Asset of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited has earned a profit of Rs.718 crore before tax during 2006-07, Anil Johari, Group General Manager of ONGC Cauvery Asset, said on Wednesday.

Talking to reporters here, Mr. Johari said the Cauvery Asset produced 14,80,000 metric tonnes of oil and oil equivalent of gas.

At present, oil production from various fields was 950 tonnes a day and gas production 34,00,000 cubic meters.

Mr. Johari, who has recently been promoted as executive director of the ONGC, said the Cauvery Asset had contributed Rs.229 crore as royalty and sales tax to the Tamil Nadu Government and a cess of Rs.91 crore to the Centre.

He said the main oil fields and production installations were located in Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Cuddalore, Thanjavur and Ramanathapuram districts in Tamil Nadu. The Cauvery Basin covered 27,800 square kilometres onshore and 30,000 square kilometres offshore.

There were six drilling and three work-over rigs operating in the onshore basin and 17 production installations. The gas produced from these fields was utilised for production of over 600 MW power in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The oil produced was transported to Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited at Panangudi near Nagapattinam for refining.

Safety awards

The Cauvery Asset bagged six prestigious safety awards last year. They included the National Safety Awards, the Oil Industry Safety Directorate Awards, the Green Tech Awards and the Golden Peacock Awards.

The Cauvery Asset reduced gas flaring at its installations to almost zero level through in-house innovations. The gas now being flared was less than one per cent of the total gas being produced, and the Asset was poised to achieve zero flaring by this year-end, he said.

Mr. Johari said the value added product project, a kind of mini-refinery, was coming up at the ONGC's Gas Collecting Station at Kuthalam near Mayiladuturai.

With the commissioning of the plant, condensate produced in the Asset would be converted into naphtha, industrial kerosene and heavy cut.

Mr. Johari said a pilot helium extraction plant was coming up at Kuthalam with the support of the Department of Science and Technology and the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkatta.

He said the ONGC corporate headquarters earmarked 0.75 per cent of the net profit for the development of education, health care and infrastructure, entrepreneurial development and promotion of sports, arts and culture in the operational areas. The Asset contributed Rs.68 lakh to welfare schemes in Karaikal, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Cuddalore, Thanjavur and Ramanathapuram districts.

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