Oilex: Cambay block has 377 bcf of gas, 17.3 m barrels of oil
Australia-based Oilex on Thursday said its block in Cambay basin of Gujarat holds 377 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas and 17.3 million barrels of crude oil. These are estimated 3P (proven plus probable plus possible) reserves.
“RISC Operations, an Australia-based, internationally recognised independent petroleum advisory group, has completed an resource report of the Eocene Formation of the Cambay Field,” Oilex said.
Oilex is operator of, and has a 45% net working interest in ,the Cambay Field production sharing contract.
At the same time, the Y zone in the Cambay block, Oilex said, holds 2P reserves (proved and probable) of 206 BCF gas and 8 million barrels of condensate.
The Cambay block has a third zone, Z and contingent resource across the three zone may be as high as 12 trillion cubic feet.
Oilex managing director Ron Miller said the new estimate on the X and Y zones would provide a strong foundation for the immediate development of the Cambay field. The 2P reserves validate the forward program for commercial development of the Cambay field, he said.
Oilex expects to begin production from Cambay-73 in May and is also working towards production from the recently-drilled Cambay-77H well. It plans to drill up to four wells this fiscal. Oilex is trying to implement horizontal fracking in its block in Cambay comprising tight reservoir. The good news is — initial results are positive.
Sundeep Bhandari, vice chairman at Oilex, earlier told FE that the company spent about $13 million and drilled a 350 metres horizontal well. The well has been fracked at four stages and nearly 20,000 barrels of water pumped in. Result: The well continues give out water, light oil and gas on a steady flow.
At Cambay-77H, Oilex has successfully drilled, fracture-stimulated, recovered substantial operational water, gas and light oil and is about to commence. production testing the first horizontal well with multistage fracture treatments in India. This is another step in the rejuvenation of the Cambay field.
If the horizontal drilling technique finds suitably implemented in Cambay basin, it may change fortunes for several hydrocarbon explorers. Generally, each vertical well in such geological formations would cost anything between $3-5 million, while a horizontal well would cost around $10 million.
