Cairn India makes 26th oil discovery in Rajasthan

Cairn India, the company which discovered hydrocarbon deposits in the Mannar basin, on Tuesday, announced that it had made the 26th oil discovery in its prolific Rajasthan block in India.

"Cairn India has made its latest oil discovery, the 26th discovery so far in the RJ-ON-90/1 block, following recent policy clarity by the Government of India (GoI), to conduct exploration activity in development blocks," the company said in a statement on Tuesday.The Management Committee approved the exploration work programme for the RJ-ON-90/1 block on February 14, after which Cairn India, the operator of the block, commenced the drilling of its first exploration well, Raageshwari-South-1, on February 25, located in the southern part of the block.

"Technical evaluations indicate about 10 metres of gross oil column within DharviDungar Formation," it said.

"Oil has been discovered and tested for the first time in DharviDungar sands in Raageshwari-Tukaram area, where previous discoveries were in the shallower Thumbli sands," the company said, adding the volumes of oil in place and the potential resource base associated with this discovery, were under evaluation. "We are delighted with the 26th discovery in the block. This reaffirms our belief that an aggressive exploration drilling programme would help harness the full potential of the Barmer

Basin in Rajasthan. This is a step closer towards reserve accretion through exploration-led growth," Cairn Chief Executive Officer Elango P said in the statement.