State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC)'s major oil discovery in the Bay of Bengal will start production in 2019, Dinesh K Sarraf, chairman and managing director of the company, said here.

 

 "We are moving fast on KG-D5 development. First gas from the block is planned for 2018 and first oil in 2019," he told reporters.

 

 "Conservative estimates put the production at 75,000-plus bpd," he said.

 

 The oil discovery in Krishna Godavari basin block KG-DWN-98/2 or KG-D5 is the first large oil production from the east coast. The block also has 10 gas discoveries.

 

 KG-D5 will produce up to 4.5 million tonnes per annum – the largest from any field on the east coast.