Oil India starts hydrocarbons hunt in Cauvery

Oil India Ltd (OIL) made its maiden foray into the Cauvery Basin last weekend. The company has initiated seismic surveys in its offshore block to locate possible areas for exploration of hydrocarbons.

“Our target was to start the seismic work by March-April 2011 so as to finish the programme before the onset of the monsoon. We started work on March 12,” said Mr B.N. Talukdar, Director (Exploration and Development), OIL.

He told

Business Line that OIL has engaged Norwegian company, Bergen Oil Field Service, to do the job. “We expect to complete the seismic work in another four months,” Mr Talukdar said.

The Block CY-OSN-2009/2 was won by OIL in NELP VIII. ONGC is OIL's partner in the Block with a 50 per cent stake. It is the company's first offshore exploration activity as an operator under the NELP regime. Mr Talukdar said, “A similar activity is being initiated in our Andaman Basin deep water block where we are joint operators with ONGC.”

OIL has 65 exploration and production blocks, of which 30 are NELP blocks. Of this, OIL is an operator in 12. The company's focus will be to enhance the production of crude oil on a sustainable basis and to discover hydrocarbons in the NELP blocks, he said.

Currently, OIL produces oil and gas from its Assam-Arakan basin blocks and the Rajasthan-Jaisalmer block.