ONGC Chairman Sudhir Vasudeva said the company plans to use the idle oil and gas infrastructure of Reliance Industries (RIL) in KG (Krishna-Godavari ) basins in order to produce gas from its neighbouring fields.

   ONGC expects to start pumping gas from its KG block by 2016. It has a potential to produce around 22 mcmd of gas which can be raised to 35 mcmd if the cluster fields are also tied up with it.

   Instead of waiting for its own facilities to come up, ONGC plans to share the stranded capacity of RIL, whose gas output declined in the KG D6 basin.

   Both the companies are set to be holding talks on how RIL would offer the capacity, whether long-term or short term. ONGC is open for a shortterm deal. It suits ONGC as it can bring fields on stream without having to wait for its own facilities to be completed, he added.

   RIL's production has fallen to 27-28 mcmd in recent times from 61 mcmd after sand and water choked several wells. ONGC learns that RIL's production may not rise before 2016.

   RIl built facilities under the sea and on shore capable of pumping up to 120 mcmd (million cubic metres per day) of gas from its KG-D 6 block.

   Vasudeva said the modalities would not be a problem since infrastructure-sharing was a global practice. PK Borthakur, who is poised to take over as ONGC's director (offshore), added that there were well-established global norms for sharing infrastructure . Nowhere in the world do companies keep building (duplicating) infrastructure, he said.