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Cairn India plans to drill 48 wells at a cost of less than $100 million on the Mangala oilfield in the prolific Rajasthan block to extend the current production plateau.
The company last month wrote to the block oversight committee saying, "Production performance analysis, reservoir modeling and subsurface studies have shown that by drilling up to additional 48 infill producers (well) the current plateau can be further extended and reserves increased."
Cairn told the Management Committee (MC) that the drilling programme has been approved by its partner state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC).
The MC had previously approved a $2.367 billion field development plan for Mangala, the biggest among the 26 oil and gas discoveries Cairn has made in the Barmer basin block in Rajasthan, to produce a maximum of 150,000 barrels of oil per day (7.5 million tonnes a year) till 2020.
Mangala field has been producing at the plateau rate of 150,000 bpd since 2012. Till date, 109 producers wells and 48 injectors wells have been drilled out of the approved 162 wells (including 111 producers wells and 51 injectors).
The new wells would be within the approved FDP cost of $2.367 billion.
The block's operating committee, comprising of the two partners Cairn and ONGC, has approved "drilling and completion of additional up to 48 infill wells beyond FDP count of 162 wells to achieve possible extension of plateau and additional reserves within the overall approved FDP cost of $2,367.31 million," it wrote to MC members.
The MC is headed by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) and also includes a representative of the Oil Ministry besides officials of Cairn and ONGC.
Cairn is the operator of the block with 70% interest while ONGC has 30%.
Rajasthan block produces less than 175,000 bpd of oil. It produced 168,594 bpd of crude during the three months to March 31, 2012, the company had stated in its production update.
Rajasthan fields began production at the end of August, 2009. Besides Mangala, Bhagyam, the second biggest field, is producing less than 25,000 bpd.
