Vedanta plans $200 million push to lift Rajasthan oil output

Barmer: Vedanta Oil and Gas is increasing investment in its mature Rajasthan fields to arrest natural reservoir decline and boost crude output from existing wells. Simultaneously, the company is developing the northeast region into a new hub for gas growth.

The company, formerly known as Cairn India, plans to invest about $200 million (₹2,000 crore) in 2026-27 across northern Rajasthan, comprising the Mangla, Bhagyam and Aishwariya fields.

The immediate focus is Mangla, the field that transformed Barmer into India's biggest onshore oil-producing region after its discovery in 2004. Vedanta is targeting production of more than 150,000 barrels a day (bpd) from Mangla, up from about 80,000 bpd currently, through polymer flooding, well interventions and other enhanced-recovery measures.


Jim Johnny Gast, interim CEO and whole-time director of Vedanta Oil and Gas, said producing fields were experiencing natural declines of 1-3%, making higher recovery from existing wells critical to increasing output.

"Over the last 20 years, the country's total crude production has remained stagnant at 0.87-0.99 mmboe (million barrels of oil equivalent), while consumption has gone from 2.65 to 5.6 mmboe-almost doubled. We are trying to explore the small sedimentary basins which have vast opportunity and increase production from our producing wells, which will reduce this huge gap," Gast told media persons in Barmer.

Vedanta's average gross operated production stood at 77.7 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (kboepd) in the first quarter of this financial year, down 17% from 93.2 kboepd a year ago. Rajasthan remained its largest producing asset, accounting for 81% of the company's total production. The company is expanding enhanced oil recovery at Mangla through polymer flooding and alkaline-surfactant-polymer injection. Recovery from producing wells has reached 41%, and the company has set a target of achieving 60%, Gast said.

(The reporter was in Barmer at the invitation of Vedanta Oil and Gas)