Oil discovery by ONGC in Tamil Nadu

NEW DELHI: State-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has made a crude oil discovery in an exploration block in Tamil Nadu, the company's junior partner Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) said today.

Exploratory well 'Madanam-3' produced 115 cubic meters per day of oil and 11,500 cubic meters per day of gas in Cauvery basin block, BPCL said in a filing to the stock exchanges.

ONGC is the operator of the block CY-ONN-2002/2 with 60 per cent interest while Bharat PetroResources Ltd (BPRL), a fully owned subsidiary of BPCL, holds the remaining 40 per cent. The two had won the block in the fourth round of bidding under New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP).

The discovery well is situated 14-km south-east of Chidambaram town in Tamil Nadu.

"Compared to earlier lower-productivity basement discoveries, Madanam-3 discovery is a major breakthrough in basement play exploration in Cauvery basin," the company said.