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| Edited By: Sreejiraj Eluvangal |Source: DNA |Updated: Mar 17, 2018, 03:18 AM IST
Cairn India, operator of the largest onshore oilfield in India, will kick off a new study this year on enhancing its oil reserves in Rajasthan by as much as 25%.
According to Cairn’s current estimates, its three Rajasthan fields under production — Mangala, Bhagya and Aishwarya (MBA) — contain around 2.2 billion barrels of oil. Using conventional techniques, a little over half of the reserves, about 1.1 billion barrels, can be brought to the surface.
At the time of starting production last year, the company had expressed hope that it can recover an extra 15%, or 300 million barrels, through enhanced oil recovery techniques such as pumping water into the ground through adjacent wells to flush out oil.
Some in the company believe the proportion can be enhanced to 40%, yielding an extra 500 million barrels, worth around $250-300 million (Rs 1,175-1,400 crore).
“The company estimates that by using enhanced oil recovery techniques, it may be able to recover an extra 35-40% than would be possible using conventional drilling methods,” said a source, not associated with Cairn.
The results of the study will be known in 18-24 months.
The company will now increase its production capacity at the MBA fields from less than 30,000 barrels per day to 1,25,000 barrels per day in one step by mid-2010, as against the earlier plan of a two-step expansion during the first half.
At full production in 2011, the three fields will account for around 20% of the country’s total crude production.
Cairn also plans to tie its other discovered fields, which have around 1.5 billion barrels of oil, to the three under development. It is also exploring remaining parts of the Rajasthan block and expects to drill one well in the block this year. However, it will drill 5 exploratory wells in its onshore block near the gas-rich Krishna Godavari basin.
The company’s 600 km Rajasthan-Gujarat pipeline is expected to be completed by the end of this month or early April, as against the initial target of January, 2010.
