Indian energy major Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is planning to invest more than $2bn to undertake drilling wok at 103 wells at the Bassein and Satellite (B&S) assets offshore India, according to new agency Press Trust of India (PTI).

The investment will be made over the next two to three years, a company official told the publication.

The wells will help the company in increasing production by tapping smaller, previously untapped reservoirs.

ONGC currently has three main assets off the west coast. These include Mumbai High, Heera and Neelam, and Bassein and Satellite.

ONGC offshore director Pankaj Kumar said: “We estimate that this development drilling will enhance production by over 100 million tonnes of oil and oil equivalent gas over the life of the field.

“The investment involved in drilling and facilities will be over $2bn.”

The Indian government has been urging state-owned firms to increase domestic oil and gas production to help cut the import bill of $115bn.

“We have done a reservoir profiling for the entire asset to plan the drilling campaign,” Kumar said.

The new offshore wells are also expected to offset the natural production decline in older wells.

Earlier this month, ONGC announced its plan to invest $3.5bn in the next three to four years to increase oil and gas production from western offshore assets.

The firm said it was in discussions with oil majors including Equinor, ExxonMobil, and Chevron to develop its offshore oil and gas blocks.