India's state owned oil and gas exploration firm, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has announced plans to develop five oil fields with an investment of Rs73.37bn ($1.10bn).
The development of the fields is expected to produce of 14.969 million tons of oil and 2.972 billion cubic metres (BCM) of gas.
ONGC intends to develop the R-Series fields, including Revival of R-12 (Ratna) with an investment of Rs41.04bn ($613.8m).
The Ratna-R Series fields are located about 130km South-West of Mumbai.
ONGC said in a statement: "Of 37 structures in the field, eight were found to be oil-bearing and only one R-12 (Ratna) field was under exploitation during the period 1982 to 1994. The remaining R-series structures are yet to be monetized.”
The firm is planning to invest Rs11.62bn ($173.7m) for the redevelopment of the Santhal oil field of Mehsana Asset in North Gujarat. It is located in the southern part of the heavy belt of North Cambay Basin.
ONGC will develop the B-147 field and BSE-11 Block with a capital budget of Rs5.46bn ($81.6m) and Rs5.1bn ($76.4m) respectively.
Located about 110km from the Mumbai shore, the B-147 field is a part of Bassein & Satellite Asset in Western Offshore.
The BSE-11 Block in Bassein and Satellite Asset is located about 80km from Mumbai shore and at water depth of about 40-45m.
ONGC has also approved investment of Rs10.02bn ($149.8m) for the development of fourth phase of NBP field, also in Bassein and Satellite Asset.
The investment decision is expected to help India boost its oil and gas production and reduce dependence on imports. Currently the country imports 77% oil requirement through imports.