Cairn India to undertake wildcat drilling in KG Basin

HYDERABAD: After the success of Barmer oil fields in Rajasthan, Cairn India - the second largest oil and natural gas explorer in the country - bets heavily on wildcat drilling.

The company is now all set to undertake wildcat drilling at KG-ONN-2003/1 block in Krishna-Godavari block soon, according to sources close to the development.

Wildcat drilling is the process of drilling for oil in an area that has been left unexplored.

Sources privy to the development said the ONGC-Cairn JV is planning to start work on at least two wildcat wells in the Krishna-Godavari basin before the end of August.

"The work has begun. The company already carried out two seismic programmes in the contract area. Over 500 line kilometers of 2D seismic acquisition was swiftly followed by shooting of another 255 sq km of 3D seismic programme," sources told PTI.

In block KG-ONN-2003 /1 Cairn India has 49 per cent stake and is the operator, while ONGC holds remaining 51 per cent participating interest. The block is spread over more than 3,288 sq km in the KG Basin.

It may be noted that Barmer Rajasthan had seen some successful wildcat drilling campaigns the company undertook.