Cairn Energy to step up exploration in Rajasthan

Friday, 06 February 2004, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: British major Cairn Energy will be drilling more appraisal wells in the desert state of Rajasthan before finalising commercial production plans in India, according to Alan Linn, country manager. "We will be drilling four appraisal wells and depending on what we find, the commerciality of development and production will be decided," Linn, who heads Cairn Energy India, said Friday on the sidelines of a function held by the petroleum ministry to award contracts for 26 more exploration blocks, including six for coal-bed methane. Petroleum Minister Ram Naik is slated to visit the exploration block in Fatehgarh sands, around 60 km north of an earlier discovery Saraswati in the block RJ-ON90/1 in Barmer District, on Feb 10 to see the ongoing work at the biggest oil discovery in the country in last 20 years. Cairn Energy, which holds stake in six exploration blocks in India, had last year invested almost 90 percent of its global financial budget for exploration activities in the country, Linn disclosed. He declined to furnish details about the current year. As against the commitment of drilling around seven exploration wells in the northern Rajasthan Basin in Block RJ-ON 90/1 in Barmer, the company had adopted an aggressive work plan and drilled 17 wells to find oil in the N-B-1 exploration well. The initial estimates for the oil in place of this discovery range from 450 to 1,100 million barrels. Preliminary reserve estimates are in the 50-200 million-barrel range. Expressing happiness with the oil found, Linn said: "Early indications show it is fairly sweet, though heavier than some oil at 24-degree API (American Petroleum Institute) units as a measure of oil specific gravity). "It is also quite waxy, but that should not be a problem in a hot place like Rajasthan where it would be easy to maintain the required high temperature for extraction." Linn said the company would be looking keenly at the next round of exploration blocks to be offered by India in April. The company has had several encouraging oil and gas discoveries in Ravva, a producing field in Eastern India, as also in Krishan-Godavari (K-G) Basin and in Cambay Basin off Gujarat coast. Its plans for commercial production in the other fields would depend on the progress in the Rajasthan block.
Source: IANS
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