Essar Energy Ltd. reported the discovery of natural gas in the Pliocene formation offshore India’s west coast. Essar’s consortium partner, Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd., is operator and has 70% interest.
The discovery was made with the first exploratory well drilled on Block MB-OSN-2005/3 in the Mumbai Offshore basin, which was awarded under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) VII Round (OGJ Online, June 13, 2007).
The exploratory well, MBSO53NAA1, flowed more than 47,000 cu m/day during conventional testing. Essar said the discovery is significant geologically because it’s the first on the west coast in the Pliocene, with reservoir depths being about 1,000 m. Mumbai High reservoirs are typically at depths of 2,000-2,500 m.
The presence of gas at a shallower depth can significantly bring down costs and the time period involved in commercializing the find, Essar said.
The Pliocene exploration target was mapped based on high-quality 3D seismic data acquired by Essar when it was operator during Phase I of the exploration period.
