{"id":27015,"date":"2026-10-27T16:26:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T10:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramias.com\/upsc\/?p=27015"},"modified":"2026-10-27T16:27:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T10:57:04","slug":"gandhar-oilfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramias.com\/upsc\/gandhar-oilfield\/","title":{"rendered":"ONGC Plans Carbon Capture and Storage Pilot at Gandhar Oilfield in Gujarat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ONGC<span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is developing a carbon capture and storage (CCS) pilot at the Gandhar Oilfield in Gujarat. The project aims to capture carbon dioxide (CO\u2082) from industrial sources and store it underground. It will also explore whether CO\u2082 injection can help extract additional oil from this mature field.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<h2><b>Gandhar Oilfield Location and Key Features<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Gandhar Oilfield is located in the Jambusar-Broach block of the Cambay Basin in Gujarat.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It lies on the western flank of the Broach depression, between the Dadhar River in the north and the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/narmada-river-system\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Narmada River<\/a><\/strong> in the south.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The field is operated by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) under its Ankleshwar Asset.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3><b>What is a brownfield oilfield?<\/b><\/h3>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A brownfield oilfield is an existing field that has already been explored and developed and has been producing oil or gas for some time. As production declines, techniques such as enhanced oil recovery may help extract additional hydrocarbons. Existing infrastructure and geological data may also make such fields potential sites for carbon dioxide storage, subject to safety assessments.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<h2><b>ONGC\u2019s Carbon Capture and Storage Pilot<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The project aims to capture CO\u2082 from industries in Dahej and ONGC\u2019s Hazira plant and transport it to Gandhar for underground storage.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The captured CO\u2082 is proposed to be injected through two abandoned onshore wells at a target rate of around 100 tonnes per day.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The project will assess whether underground reservoirs can safely store <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/carbon-dioxide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CO\u2082<\/a><\/strong> over the long term.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It will also examine the potential for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), in which injected CO\u2082 helps mobilise residual oil and increase production from mature reservoirs.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><b>Significance of the Project<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Gandhar CCS project is significant for its potential to reduce industrial emissions, make use of existing oilfield infrastructure and support India\u2019s transition towards a low-carbon economy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Industrial decarbonisation: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">CCS could help reduce emissions from industries that are difficult to decarbonise through direct electrification or other measures.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Shared infrastructure:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Transporting CO\u2082 from industrial centres such as Dahej and Hazira to a common storage site could help distribute infrastructure costs.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Use of mature oilfields: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Existing geological data and infrastructure may help assess whether depleted reservoirs are suitable for CO\u2082 storage.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Climate commitments: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">CCS could complement <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/renewable-energy-in-india\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">renewable energy<\/a><\/strong>, energy efficiency and green hydrogen as India works towards its net-zero emissions target for 2070.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><b>Challenges and the Way Forward<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>High costs:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Capturing, compressing and transporting CO\u2082 requires substantial investment and energy.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Risk of leakage:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Underground storage requires careful assessment of geological formations, well integrity and long-term monitoring.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Climate trade-offs: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Enhanced oil recovery may increase oil production, but the additional emissions from using that oil must be considered when assessing the project's overall climate benefit.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">India needs clear regulations for CO\u2082 storage, long-term monitoring and liability, along with suitable financial incentives. Commercial expansion should depend on evidence that the technology is safe, effective and economically viable.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gandhar Oilfield in Gujarat hosts ONGC&#8217;s proposed carbon storage pilot to capture industrial CO2. Learn about its location, enhanced oil recovery, benefits and challenges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":26994,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1787],"tags":[1841,1840],"class_list":{"0":"post-27015","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-current-affairs","8":"tag-gandhar","9":"tag-gandhar-oilfield"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramias.com\/upsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramias.com\/upsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramias.com\/upsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramias.com\/upsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramias.com\/upsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27015"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramias.com\/upsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27032,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramias.com\/upsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27015\/revisions\/27032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramias.com\/upsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramias.com\/upsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramias.com\/upsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramias.com\/upsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}