Talking to the reporters at a flag-off ceremony chairman and managing director Subir Raha, described the exercise as the "biggest ever data acquisition program worldwide."
ONGC has chartered 12 survey vessels in addition to its one company owned boat, adding to the total survey cost of over US$200 million, using the latest 4D technology.
The exercise is being carried out as part of the company's initiative to find six billion tonnes of oil and gas reserves by 2020, in addition to its previous finds. ONGC is maintaining an annual positive reserves over-production since 2001.
"Globally, the accepted rule is that the exploration of reserves should be higher than the production, and we had a bad patch in the late 1990s. Now, we are back on target again," Raha said.
