The Cauvery basin is shaping up as a key oil province for India.
State owned Oil & Natural Gas Commission predicts Cauvery basin oil flow will rise to 70,000 b/d by 1995 vs. a goal of 40,000 b/d.
ONGC targets a tenfold jump in onshore Cauvery basin oil production by 1994-95 from the current 6,600 b/d. A further increase in Cauvery production will come with start-up later this decade of production from recent strikes in the offshore portion of the basin.
The basin covers much of Tamil Nadu state and extends from Pondicherry along the Coromandal coast south to Cape Coromin and into Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar. The basin in all covers 25,000 sq km onshore and 23,000 sq km offshore. Of 105 wells drilled there since 1959, 21 found oil.
Stepped up oil and gas E&D will complement increasing industrialization of the region.
Madras Refineries Ltd. has proposed building a small refinery fed by Cauvery crude.
In addition, six $2 million sodium silicate plants to be fed by Cauvery gas are under construction or on stream in the Narimanam area. Five have started taking gas, and two more are planned.
CURRENT ACTION
Currently, there are nine rigs operating in the onshore portion of the basin: three at Narimanam, two at Nannilam, and one each at Adiyakkamangalam, Neduncherry, Venquidangal, and Thiruvarur. Two rigs are working the Cauvery basin offshore.
In the latest action, ONGC drilled an oil discovery at Kamalapuram in Thanjavur district. Its second well there on initial tests flowed 700 b/d of light, sweet crude, the biggest onshore gauge in the basin. Indications are flow rates could be higher.
ONGC has 12 wells on early production at Narimanam in Thanjavur district.
The company estimates 21.9 million bbl of the field's 43.8 million bbl of original oil in place are recoverable. Another six wells are planned to develop the main structure. ONGC also plans to test satellite structures in the area.
It has installed a gathering center at Narimanam. Associated gas from Narimanam field moves to industrial users through a 14 km pipeline.
The discovery off Tamil Nadu coast holds special promise for the Cauvery basin offshore. The PY-3-2 discovery well in the Porto Novo area flowed 4,300 b/d of oil, compared with a typical onshore Cauvery well yield of only 250 b/d.
In addition to ONGC's exploration in the basin, an exploration program by the U.S.S.R.'s Technoexport under contract from ONGC is proceeding in the northern onshore Cauvery basin.
Copyright 1991 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
