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 has 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 Government of India (GOI) to conduct exploration activity in development blocks," the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Block oversight panel, called 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 Dharvi Dungar Formation," it said.

"Oil has been discovered and tested for the first time in Dharvi Dungar 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 the discovery are under evaluation.

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