Second oil discovery: It''s flowing for Cairns

New Delhi: Cairn Energy plc has announced a second significant oil discovery in Rajasthan with its N-A-1 exploration well. According to the company, the preliminary estimates of oil at the well is between 130 and 470 million barrels. The preliminary recoverable reserves are estimated to range from 20 to 80 million barrels.

Last month Cairns had announced a successful oil test at its N-B-1 exploration well in the same block, stating that a cumulative flow rate of 6,000 barrels of oil per day had been achieved across three selected zones. The company's chief executive, Bill Gammell, had commented that he expected the N-B-1 well to eventually produce over 10,000 barrels of oil a day.

N-A-1 and N-B-1 are located, in what the company refers to, as the Fatehgarh formation.

The company says that an open hole test programme in the Fatehgarh section has commenced. The first of two zones to be tested has flowed 1,225 barrels of oil per day on a 64/64-inch choke. The company says that the current drilling programme is now being reviewed to allow early appraisal drilling of the N-A-1 discovery to assess reservoir distribution.

N-A-1 is located 8 kilometres southeast of N-B-1 (Mangala) and 52 kilometres north by north-west of the Saraswati basin.The company is currently engaged in digging an exploratory well, CB-X-1, in Gujarat as well.

Cairn is involved in an extensive exploration and appraisal programme across its 5,000 square kilometre onshore exploration block (RJ-ON-90/1) in the Rajasthan Basin in which it holds a 100 per cent interest. The Indian oil major, the Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, has rights to 30 per cent of any development area resulting from a commercial discovery on the block.

Cairn has a substantial acreage holding that comprises exploration and production assets, predominantly in India and Bangladesh, with additional non-operated producing interests in the North Sea.