New Delhi, Feb 08: Scottish explorer Cairn Energy has sought equity participation from state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to develop its latest find of about 20mt oil and gas reserves in Rajasthan.
“ONGC is our natural partner and we hope it will become partners in Rajasthan,” Cairn Energy CEO Bill Gammell said.
ONGC has a right to 30% of any development area resulting from a commercial discovery on the RJ-ON-90/1 block where Cairn had, earlier this week, struck 155m barrels (about 20mt) of oil reserves.
The discovery is adjacent to its previous find Saraswati (on the same block), which is estimated to have 14mt of in-place oil reserves. However, senior ONGC officials said neither Saraswati nor the new oil find was commercially viable on a standalone basis.
“Unless more oil is found in the block, we don’t think commercial production would flow from the discoveries.”
Ongc would only invest in the block if the discoveries have commercial potential, they said.
Bureau Report