The Hindu Business Line : Cairn India announces 2 new finds in Rajasthan

New Delhi May 10 Cairn India Ltd announced on Thursday two new oil and gas discoveries in its Rajasthan block. This news saw the company's shares touching a high of Rs 133.50 after opening at Rs 129.55 and finally closing at Rs 130.55 on the BSE.

In a statement issued here, the company said it has received a six-month extension from the Government to undertake further exploration activities in the northern region of the block.

The Chief Executive Officer of Cairn India, Mr Rahul Dhir, said, "Cairn India is delighted to have secured this extension in order to further evaluate the potential of this area. The two discoveries confirm our belief that the Rajasthan basin is world-class and will continue to add incremental value."

The discoveries were made in Kameshwari West-2 and Kameshwari West-3 wells in the company's productive Rajasthan block. The Kameshwari West-2 discovery, located northwest of the 2003 Kameshwari discovery and south of the giant Mangala field, encountered 18.2 metres of net oil pay. The Kameshwari West-3 discovery is located to the north of Kameshwari West-2 and encountered up to 16 metres of gas pay.

Test results in the upper interval confirmed the presence of a gas pool that flowed at approximately 75,000 standard cubic ft per day. According to the statement, the Government has awarded the company a six-month extension to the exploration phase of the Northern Appraisal Area (NAA) of the Rajasthan licence RJ-ON-90/1 from May 2007.

The extension will allow the company to explore the full potential of the Northern Appraisal Area, the company said, adding that these discoveries have opened up a new play in the lower Dharvi Dungar sands on the western margin of the Rajasthan basin. Further operations will re-commence in the region with Kameshwari West `M' being the next well that the company plans to drill.

Extension

In June 2005, Cairn was granted an 18-month extension until November 14, 2006 to complete its activities in the northern appraisal area. However, severe flooding in Rajasthan in 2006 had interrupted work . The company ceased operations in this area and sought further extension of part of this acreage to complete its planned work programme.

Cairn India made a major oil discovery, Mangala, in Rajasthan in early 2004. It now has 22 discoveries in the Rajasthan block RJ-ON-90/1.

India currently imports about 20 lakh barrels of oil per day (bopd). It produces about 7 lakh bopd of which about 50,000 bopd comes from the Cairn India-operated Ravva field on the east coast of India

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