In sync with its plan to ramp up production from the Barmer fields, the company is also gearing up to complete the last 80 km stretch of the 670 km Mangala Development Pipeline designed to evacuate the crude oil produced from Rajasthan.
Currently, 590 km of the pipeline is operational – from Barmer field to Salaya. It is delivering crude oil to Indian Oil Corporation refineries (two) and private domestic refinery of Reliance Industries Ltd and Essar Oil. The current pipeline capacity is 175,000 bopd.
The Salaya-Bhogat section of the pipeline had faced some execution challenges –mainly political in nature. Industry observers say, the issues are likely to be resolved soon, and Cairn can then start supplying crude to other coastal refineries.
Besides, Cairn is also planning de-bottlenecking the existing network which would add around 10 per cent additional capacity, with newer technology. This also is subject to regulatory approvals as it would require incremental investments.