Cairn India, along with its public-sector partner Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), started its first commercial sales of natural gas from Barmer block in Rajasthan on Saturday. The company expects to sell as much as 5 million standard cubic feet (mscf) of gas per day from its blocks in Rajasthan initially.
?We intend to invest over $2 billion in exploration and development activities in the next couple of years,? said P Elango, member of the board, Cairn India. Till now, the block produces about 30 mmscf of gas per day from the Raageshwari field and as associated gas from Mangala and Bhagyam fields.
The company has also started crude oil production from its Aishwariya field. At its peak, the field is expected to add 10,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) to the current output of 1,75,000 bpd from Mangala, Saraswati and Bhagyam fields in the block.
Aishwariya is the third-largest discovery in the block and can produce higher than the current production rate approved under the field development plan. The reservoirs in this field are deeper and estimated to be higher than other fields. The oil output from the block contributes over 20 % of the nation?s oil production.
Barmer : Having faced regulatory hurdles in getting routine approvals, mining baron Anil Agarwal on Saturday offered the oil ministry and state-owned ONGC a board position on his group?s subsidiary Cairn India to expedite nods for raising output.
?Instead of having the Management Committee and various levels (of approval), the ONGC and ministry of petroleum and natural gas can put their nominee on the board of Cairn to cut the approval process and expedite decision-making,? he said.PTI
