Indian gas company ONGC plans to start gas production from the KG-D5 block in the Krishna Godavari basin in India as of 2018 instead of the initially planned 2014. The company blames the Ministry of Oil and the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) for not approving the equity participation of foreign companies and thus for making the project technically infeasible. In 2007, ONGC had farmed out a 15% stake in the KG-D5 block to Petrobras (Brazil) and a 10% stake to Norsk Hydro (Statoil, Norway), expected to bring technology and deep-sea expertise, but the refusal of the Ministry prompted the companies to withdraw in 2010 and discouraged other foreign investors.
So far, ONGC has made 11 oil and gas discoveries in the KG-D5 block, divided into a Northern Discovery Area (92 Mt of oil reserves and 98 bcm of gas over seven fields) and a Southern Discovery Area. The group plans to invest US$9bn in production from the Northern Discovery Area of the block, to produce 2.5-3 Mt/year of oil and 9-10 mcm/d (3.3-3.6 bcm/year) of gas.