Cairn India and ONGC, which is a 30 per cent joint venture partner in the former’s Aishwariya oil field in Rajasthan, hope to close 2013-14 at a production rate of 200,000-215,000 barrels of oil a day from the field.
Aishwariya is the third largest discovery in the Rajasthan block and can produce higher than the current production rate approved under the field development plan. The reservoirs in this field are deeper than that of the Mangala and reservoir energy is estimated to be higher than other fields.
In other words, production could be higher than what has now been projected and even the quality of the crude oil may be better. However, the price of the crude will be on the same terms as that from the other producing fields in the block.
The Rajasthan block (RJ-ON-90/1) in the north-west of the country currently produces 175,000 barrels of oil a day from four fields — Mangala, Saraswati, Raageshwari (mostly gas) and Bhagyam, respectively.
Over 20 per cent of the nationÂ’s oil production is sourced from the Rajasthan block. India meets over 75 per cent of its crude oil requirement through imports.
Though the contractors have not indicated any timeline when the production from Aishwariya will hit its peak, producers normally ramp up output in phases so that the reservoir does not get damaged. It usually takes as long as a year for a field to reach peak output.
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