State-run oil and gas explorer ONGC added initial-in-place reserves of 265.65 million tonne oil plus oil-equivalent gas during 2012-13. According to internal assessment, this would mean ultimate reserves of 84.84 million tonne of oil plus oil-equivalent gas.

Currently, the firm produces 44-45 million tonne of oil plus oil-equivalent gas. The firm has much more oil, as well as oil-equivalent gas because of the discoveries made last year.

The firm made large discoveries in blocks won under the licensing rounds as well as those awarded on nomination basis before the New Exploration Licensing Policy regime came into existence.

After these discoveries are brought into production, it would become clear how much this would add to the country’s total production.

This is an encouraging development in the context of ONGC’s long-term perspective plan 2030, which envisages more than doubling of production and achieving a growth of 4-5 per cent against the present 2 per cent.

More importantly, for the eighth consecutive year, the firm announced a reserve-replenishment ratio of more than one at 1.88 for 2013. The reserve-replenishment ratio is the hydrocarbons volumes added in a year divided by the volumes produced or extracted. This global norm for this ratio is below one.

Of the 108 exploratory wells drilled by the firm in 2013, 37 were hydrocarbon-bearing. Ten new prospects and 16 new pool discoveries were estimated during the year, of which, five new prospect discoveries are in NELP blocks.