RIL discovers oil in Cambay basin

Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries (RIL) today said it has made its first on-land oil discovery in the Cambay basin, around 130 km from Ahmedabad.

Five wells had been drilled in the area, and the fifth well flowed at a rate of 500 barrels of oil per day (bopd), the company said in a statement. Analysts said the company would have to drill multiple wells to evaluate the size of the reservoir.

“This (Cambay basin) discovery is expected to open future potential within the block,” RIL said. The petroleum giant was planning to drill four more wells in the basin as part of the minimum work obligation of nine wells. The block, awarded during the fifth round of National Exploration and Licensing Policy, covers 635 sq km.

Earlier, Reliance had found crude oil reserves in the predominately gas-rich KG-D6 block off the east coast. The field, which came into production in September last year, was currently producing around 11,000 barrels a day.

Reliance shares gained 1.35 per cent to close at Rs 2,052.60 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company announced the discovery today morning. The company shares have increased by 12.74 per cent in a week.

The company owned 100 per cent of the participating interest in the Cambay basin field. The oil discovery in Cambay is the second in a row after finding oil in KG-D6 in 2002. The block, which started production in September last year, is now ramping up to the maximum level of 40,000 barrels of oil a day.

The Cambay basin is a narrow and elongated rift, extending from Surat in the south to Sanchor in the north, with predicted resources of 2.05 billion tonnes. In the north, the basin narrows, but tectonically continues beyond Sanchor to pass into the Barmer basin of Rajasthan.

On the southern side, the basin merges with the Bombay Offshore Basin in the Arabian Sea. The area of entire basin is about 53,500 sq km.

The exploration in the basin began in 1956 by ONGC. Two years after, the state-run company had found gas in the region and later oil in the Ankleshwar field. More than 2,318 exploratory wells have been drilled in Cambay Basin. Out of 244 prospects drilled, 97 are oil and gas bearing, according to Directorate General of Hydrocarbons.

“A gross reservoir thickness of about 15 meter was encountered and the well flowed at a rate of 500 bopd through a 6 millimeter bean with a flowing tubing head pressure of 360 pound-force per square inch (psi) on conventional testing,” Reliance said about its latest find.

The discovery, named ‘Dhirubhai–43’ has been notified to the government and Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). The commercial potential of this discovery will ascertained with more data gathering and analysis, it added.