ONGC seeks rig from global oil firms for KG block work

India’s biggest oil explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation is believed to have approached global oil firms seeking an ultra deepwater rig for drilling well UD-1 in the Krishna Godavari basin block KG-DWN/98-2.

The global major is believed to have even offered a stake in the block, where it claims to have discovered huge natural gas reserves, in return for the rig. ONGC is in talks with global oil firms StatOil, Norway’s Norsk Hydro among others to secure an ultra deepwater rig for drilling in well UD-1. It has so far been unable to secure an ultra deepwater rig in the international market even after willing to pay higher prices. ONGC now plans to develop other discoveries in the block. The firm claims that these discoveries hold a potential of over 6 tcf of gas. The cost of developing this discovery is about $5 billion. The commercial production of this is likely to begin in 2011.

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Kidd’s ship found off Dominican island

A U.S. underwater archaeology team announced that it has likely discovered the shattered remnants of a ship once captained by the notorious buccaneer William Kidd off a tiny Dominican Republic island.

The barnacled cannons and anchors found stacked beneath just 10 feet of crystalline coastal waters off Catalina Island are believed to be the wreckage of the Quedagh Merchant, a ship abandoned by the Scottish privateer in 1699, Indiana University researchers say. Treasure hunters, including a group with a permit from the Dominican government to scour Catalina for remnants of the ship, which historians believe was scavenged of treasure and burned shortly after Kidd abandoned it, have aggressively sought the wreckage. The Dominican government has licensed the U.S. University to study the wreckage. The find will likely reveal key information about piracy in the Caribbean and about the elusive Captain Kidd.

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Free whale-watching offered to Japanese

Whale Watching Sydney says it hopes to raise Japanese people’s awareness of the importance of protecting whales through close encounters with the giant mammals.
The tour operator will give free cruises next year to anyone with a Japanese passport. The company’s manager, Will Ford, said Japanese who used the offer would be educated about Australians’ love of whales and their objections to the whaling industry. He also said that very few tourists favored whale hunting once they saw the mammals in the wild. He hope other whale-watching cruise companies to introduce similar deals. Whale Watching Sydney cruises usually cost $80 for an adult.
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