|
|
Operating & Exploration Review Continued
RAJASTHAN BASIN – North West India
RAJASTHAN BASIN – North West India, RJ-ON-90/1
Development Area (Cairn India 70% (Operator); ONGC 30%)
Civil construction work is now underway to meet the
planned first oil production from Mangala in 2009.
FDPs for the Mangala, Aishwariya, Saraswati and Raageshwari
fields have been agreed by the GoI and, in addition to the
retained IPO proceeds, bank funding has been secured for
the development. The first phase of development drilling
on Saraswati has been completed and development drilling
is now underway on the Raageshwari Oil field.
All the permits and permissions required to begin major
construction work have been granted and Cairn India is in
the process of procuring the major items of long lead
equipment required to establish the production facilities.
It is planned to contract three purpose built rigs which will be
used to drill the development wells. These state-of-the-art
rigs will allow the drilling of the Mangala wells (some
horizontal) and running completions, which Cairn India
intends to use to deliver the first phase of the target
production rate of 150,000 bopd for the Rajasthan fields.
The detailed engineering design for the Mangala
development is progressing in Houston; the design team
comprises Cairn India personnel working alongside
consultants from Mustang Engineering. The assessment
of the impact of the severe flooding in Rajasthan last year
on field development design and activities is ongoing.
Work carried out to date confirms the future viability of
the current design and facilities locations, provided that
reasonable flood protection measures are implemented
as a contingency (these are currently being designed).
The GoI has approved the Declaration of Commerciality
for Bhagyam, the second largest field in Block RJ-ON-90/1,
along with the Shakti field. These fields are contained within
a second development area of 430 km2. It is currently
anticipated that the final FDPs for Bhagyam and Shakti will
be submitted to the GoI in Q2 2007. The current 2P base
case for Bhagyam envisages a plateau production rate of
40,000 bopd.
Two more recent small scale discoveries (Shakti North East
and N-I-North) have been retained within the Bhagyam/Shakti
development area, together with the N-I, N-E, N-P
and Bhagyam South discoveries.
Enhanced Oil Recovery
Work is also ongoing to establish optimal EOR techniques
in the Rajasthan block with a view to extending plateau
production and increasing ultimate recovery of oil.
Laboratory work is currently underway to establish the
potential of these technologies to facilitate early
implementation of a field scale pilot project at Mangala;
the largest of the Rajasthan fields.
Northern Appraisal Area (Cairn India 100%)
In June 2005, Cairn was granted an 18 month extension
(until 14 November 2006) to complete its activities in the
northern appraisal area to the north and west of the
Development Area. However, the work programme in this
area was interrupted by the severe flooding in Rajasthan in
2006. Cairn India has ceased operations in this area, and is
in discussions with the GoI for a further extension of part
of this acreage to complete its planned work programme.
As at 31 December 2006, expenditure incurred in this area
was approximately $24m.
Reservoir Stimulation Programme
A programme of hydraulic fracture stimulation on various
lower permeability reservoirs was completed in 2006.
The hydraulic fracture programme highlighted the potential
for new reserves in the lower permeability reservoirs.
The currently estimated hydrocarbons in place associated
with these reservoirs is in excess of 1 billion boe.
Test results from two Barmer Hill wells highlighted the
potential to unlock material oil resources in this reservoir at
two of the three main fields. Additional work is required to
quantify the potential of the Barmer Hill formation and will
be addressed during the development drilling programme
at Mangala and Aishwariya.
Results on the Raageshwari deep gas field from a single
tested zone in Raageshwari-5 indicated a two-fold increase
in productivity. Gas from the Raageshwari wells will be
utilised as fuel for the Mangala development and
subsequent northern area developments.
The Vijaya, Vandana, N-R and southern fields are also
potential candidates for future fracture stimulation to
access new reserves and/or accelerate production.
Southern Fields
In the south of the Rajasthan block, first commercial
production by trucking from the Saraswati field is ready to
start and will begin as soon as an arrangement for oil sales
has been finalised with the GoI. First commercial production
from the Raageshwari oil field is expected to commence within
12 months of Saraswati. The first phase of development drilling
has recently been successfully completed at Saraswati, and
development drilling is currently underway in Raageshwari.
Block RJ-0NN-2003/1 (Cairn India 30%, ENI (Operator))
In early January 2007, the operator commenced acquisition
of a 3D seismic survey on this Rajasthan block, which was
awarded in NELP V.
Back - Next
|
|
|
