Miles away from land, working as well as living on iron structures standing in 70 to 100 metres of sea depth was always considered a physically demanding and potentially dangerous job. And when the 14-day work shift gets extended to as much as 35 days, it certainly can be mentally stressful and physically exhausting.
But not for the 4,500 ONGC employees and officers who have been operating India's biggest oil and gas fields in the Arabian Sea as well as fields and installations in the Bay of Bengal to feed the country's energy needs.
The employees, including 9 women, are happy to continue working on offshore installations as a nationwide lockdown restricts bringing in their replacement.
"I have been receiving messages from these brave employees saying they are happy to continue working on offshore fields as long as it is needed," Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) Chairman and Managing Director Shashi Shanker told PTI here.
Most of India's oil and gas is produced from fields lying below the seabed.
To produce oil and gas, firms such as ONGC drill wells and also build installations in the sea to process the oil and gas coming from these wells before it is piped to onshore facilities. The processing platforms have living quarters that house personnel operating and maintaining the fields.
ONGC has a number of fields in the Arabian Sea, the prime being Mumbai High oil and gas fields, Bassein and Heera. It also has some fields in Krishna Godavari basin in the Bay of Bengal.
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Globally, a 50:50 pattern of work in offshore fields is followed. ONGC employees are supposed to work 14 days offshore before getting an equal period of break at their homes.
Shanker said most of the ONGC employees and contractual workers went to work on offshore last month on a 14-day work cycle. But the imposition of the lockdown meant that their replacement could not reach Mumbai -- the base from where they are to be ferried in helicopters to the offshore cite.
"My chest swells with pride to see these young ONGCians who are ready to go the extra mile during these testing times the nation is facing. It moves me to see how each one of them is wanting to do his or her best to serve the nation," he said. "Some people call them 'oil warriors' but I think a more appropriate term would be 'oil sevaks'."
"Due to COVID-19 lockdown, may of these men and women working offshore have completed 28 days to 35 days duty compared to usual 14-day shift duty and are continuing to perform a duty," he said. "Due to dedicated efforts of offshore personnel, oil and gas production has been maintained from offshore and drilling operations are also continuing."
Large helicopters haul staffers for the hour-long ride to the platform, which is 160-km from Mumbai