RAJAHMUNDRY, May 12: Fighting the blowout at Mandapet West-1 well, at Devarapalli, might be a headache for the Oil and natural Gas Commission (ONGC), but it has opened new vistas of knowledge of oil and gas reserves at shallower depths of earths in Konaseema area.

Enthused by the striking of oil and gas at less than 2,700 metres has galvanised the ONGC into ordering an investigation of the extent of the oil and gas zone at this depth, notwithstanding the discomfiture caused by the Devarapalli blowout.

The ONGC officials are now in the thick of mapping the oil and gas reserves and very soon they might come to an assessment of the zone of the newly discovered reserves. Says an elated chairman of the ONGC, B C Bora: ``We are on the job now. Very soon we will have an indication of the extent of the oil and gas zone.'' It took slightly long for the ONGC to understand the significance of the Devarapalli blowout. Its target was reaching a depth of over 4,500 metres as it thought oil and gas were available only there.

When the blowout took place while the rig was operating at a depth of over 2,700 metres, the immediate reaction was how to kill the flame and cap the well. The response time to take measures to prevent the blowout was only, in the words of the ONGC Chairman, 2-3 minutes. The kickout was strong and the bop could not prevent the blowout. This was because the rig struck the gas pocket too early.Encouraged by the discovery of the existence of `shallow gas pocket,' the ONGC is now looking for exploiting it fully. After the ONGC completes investigation of the newly discovered oil and gas zone, it would drill wells near the Devarapalli well to find out if the ``fluid'' now in the burning well is oil or simply water. The ONGC might sink wells about 2-3 km away to explore further.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.