13 September 2013 – India’s state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has approved a $560 million project to enhance oil recovery at the Rajasthan oilfields in India.
“Our board earlier this week approved the Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) project for Rajasthan fields,” ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Sudhir Vasudeva told India’s Economic Times Thursday.
The EOR proposal will now be submitted to India’s oil regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons for approval.
Cairn India, the field operator of the Rajasthan block, submitted a draft EOR plan in June 2012 to the Indian authorities for the Mangala oilfield, the largest among the 26 oil and gas find it has made in the Barmer district block.
Funds will be used for drilling additional wells and other works, Vasudeva said, adding that the project cost will be shared between Cairn India and ONGC in a 70:30 ratio.
The Rajasthan joint venture will drill 48 infill wells in the current fiscal year that ends March 31, 2014. These wells will also be used at a later stage for EOR, which may include chemical intervention to sustain plateau production rates for a longer period.
Cairn India has 70 percent in the Rajasthan block, while ONGC holds the remaining 30 percent.