Rig revamped into MOPU getting crowned

India’s government-owned company Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has set the wheels into motion to hold a coronation ceremony to crown a jack-up rig, which was recently converted into a mobile offshore production unit (MOPU).

ONGC disclosed earlier this week that the 1973-built Sagar Samrat offshore drilling rig, commissioned as a MOPU on 23 December 2022, was expected to be crowned by Hardeep Puri, India’s Petroleum Minister on Saturday, 28 January 2023. 

While serving as a jack-up rig, Sagar Samrat was used to drill ONGC’s first offshore well in the Arabian Sea in 1974. This rig, which drilled around 125 wells, took part in 14 key offshore oil and gas discoveries. The rig also discovered the Bombay High (now Mumbai High) field in 1974. This is an offshore oilfield located in the Arabian Sea, approximately 160 km west of the Mumbai coast, India.

The rig’s new life as a MOPU will enable it to receive and process fluids from the WO-16 cluster of four fields in the Arabian Sea. With a maximum export gas capacity of 2.36 million cubic meters per day, the Sagar Samrat MOPU is expected to handle up to 20,000 barrels per day of crude oil, adding 6,000 bbls/day of oil to ONGC’s production.

“The Prince of Arabian Sea,” as it was recently dubbed by ONGC, is expected to help produce 13 million tons of oil and gas from the Arabian Sea while serving as a MOPU.