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Cairn seeks ONGC equity to develop Rajasthan oil find
February 07, 2003 15:43 IST
Cairn Energy has sought equity participation from ONGC to develop its latest find of about 20 million tonne oil and gas reserves in Rajasthan.
"ONGC is our natural partner, and we hope it will partner us in Rajasthan," Cairn Energy Plc CEO Bill Gammell said in New Delhi on Friday.
ONGC has a right to 30 per cent of any development area resulting from commercial discovery on the RJ-ON-90/1 block where Cairn had earlier this week struck 155 million barrels (about 20 million tonne) of oil reserves.
The discovery is adjacent to its previous find Saraswati (on the same block), which is estimated to have 14 million tonne of in-place reserves.
Senior ONGC officials, however, said neither Saraswati nor the new oil find was commercially viable on a stand-alone basis.
"Unless more oil is found in the block, we don't think commercial production would flow from the discoveries," they said.
ONGC would invest in the blocks only if the discoveries have commercial potential, they added.
Gammell said Cairn would drill two more appraisal wells in Saraswati and one more exploratory well in the new find.
"It is too early for us to say what the field will produce. Recoverable reserves will depend on further drilling. We are exited about the find," he said while indicating that first oil from the block would not flow before 2005.
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