BPCL, Premier hits biggest gas in Assam block
The initial estimates have been pegged at 8-18 TCF of in-place gas reserves. The find is in the Cachar area, about 320 km from Guwahati. ET Awards 2007
By Piyush Pandey, TNN |
MUMBAI: A consortium of state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Premier Oil of the UK have struck what is believed to be India’s largest onshore gas discovery in Assam.
BPCL sources said that the initial estimates have been pegged at 8-18 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of in-place gas reserves. The find is in the Cachar area, about 320 km from capital Guwahati.
The seismic survey for this block was acquired in third quarter of 2004 and a well on the Masimpur prospect in Cachar spudded in January 2007. Premier Oil Cachar BV (POC) is owned 50:50 by Premier Oil India BV and BPCL. Premier holds 14.5% interest in this block.
“This is a big discovery. Cachar has significant gas and possibly oil potential. We are still in process of evaluating the potential of this discovery. We are getting encouraging results,” BPCL chairman Ashok Sinha told ET.
In January, POC started drilling in Cachar, an area that covers 2,570 sq km and lies adjacent to gas discoveries in eastern Bangladesh. At a measured depth of 4,002 m, a sandstone formation was encountered with good hydrocarbon shows and high formation pressure.
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Assam accounts for about 12% of India’s crude oil production of about 665,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD). State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corpo-ration and Oil India (OIL) has big presence in the region with many discoveries. All BPCL’s upstream operations including interest in Cachar block has been transferred to BPCL’s wholly-owned subsidiary called Bharat PetroResources (BPRL). "The well has reached its targeted depth. We are awaiting test results."
Following completion of operations on Masimpur 3 well, BPCL and Premier are likely to drill two further wells on the Cachar block till the end of 2007 to access further potential of this block,” says BPRL managing director BK Menon.
The upstream regulator, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) could not be reached for comments.
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