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ShareNew Delhi: Reliance Industries (RIL), the country's largest private sector energy company, has announced its first onshore oil and gas discovery in the Cambay basin in Gujarat.
The discovery comes over a year after the company announced three oil and gas finds in the first half of 2008.
RIL, which had been under tremendous financial pressure precipitated by plunging oil prices for nearly a year, has been investing more and more in exploration as its cash-flows have improved with the commencement of gas production from the KG D6 block.
The company said its maiden onshore discovery was made during the drilling of the fifth well in the Cambay basin (CB-10) block, after the earlier four had turned out to be dry.
The company intends to drill four more wells to ascertain its current find, sources said.
RIL said the fifth well discovered an oil reservoir 15 metre thick at a depth of around 1.5 km. The well flowed at a rate of 500 barrels of oil per day (bopd) as compared with 1,000 bopd for most commercial wells.
The company, however, said the discovery pointed to greater potential in the block. "This discovery supplements RIL's understanding of the petroleum system in this block in the Cambay basin. Based on interpretation of the acquired 3D seismic data in the contract area, several prospects have been identified at different stratigraphic levels. Commerciality of this discovery is being ascertained through more data gathering and analysis... the discovery is expected to open future potential within the block," it said in a statement.
RIL is the second biggest exploration acreage holder in India, after state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. It has stakes in 33 oil and gas exploration blocks, besides 5 coal blocks for exploration of methane. It owns 90% of the KG D6 block, which started production last year. In the Panna-Mukta-Tapti fields, one of the oldest producing blocks in the country, it has a 30% stake. Of the remaining 31 blocks, 29 are in various stages of exploration, company sources said.
RIL, which has proven gas reserves of around 20 trillion cubic feet (4 billion barrels of oil), has around 91% of its 3.25 lakh square km exploration acreage in India in the form of deep and shallow water blocks.
Its latest discovery has been christened Dhirubhai 43. The previous discovery, made in the KG D6 basin and announced in July last year, is called Dhirubhai 42.
Ambanis say no out-of-court deal
The Ambani groups on Tuesday denied the report suggesting possible discussions towards an out-of-court settlement, carried in the DNA on Tuesday.
Reliance Industries Ltd said in a statement it is "not open" to a settlement and called the story "untrue and baseless."
Reliance Natural Resources called it "baseless and speculative."
Meanwhile, Homi Phiroze Ranina, a Supreme Court lawyer, told Bloomberg on Tuesday "everyone would be delighted if they settled."
An out-of-court resolution would allow the family to keep details of their 2005 accord confidential, while the judges would not be forced to determine the legal validity of a private agreement, he said.
