Cairn JV to invest $100 mn to drill deeper well in KG basin

The JV plans to drill the exploration well to 4,000 meters deep, and estimates that the deepwater prospect in the Ravva Oil Fields may hold about 350-billion cubic feet of 'recoverable gas', sources told PTI.

"The drilling program is expected to start in the second half of next financial year. In a recently concluded meeting, the Ravva JV has approved the operator's proposal to drill one exploratory well with an estimated investment of USD 90 to USD 100 million," a source said.

JV officials could not be reached for their comments.

Cairn India, with 22.5 per cent stake as an operator in the venture, shares Ravva with Marubeni-owned Ravva Oil (12.5 per cent), Videocon (25 per cent) and ONGC (40 per cent).

The PSC was signed in 1994 with Command Petroleum as operator, which sold its stake to Cairn.

According to industry experts the JV will need a rig that can drill 'high temperature/high pressure' well in water depths of up to 20 meters.

Last month, while announcing its results for the quarter ended September, Cairn India said that in the Ravva field, a "high-value, high-risk" prospect had been identified, and exploratory well drilling here was scheduled for the first half of 2013-14.

The average gross production from the Ravva field for H1 FY 2012-13 was 30,591 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Ravva has already completed over 17 years of production.

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