Vedanta Reports Oil Discovery in Krishna-Godavari Basin

Diversified natural resources company Vedanta said on Wednesday it has made an oil discovery in Krishna-Godavari basin of Andhra Pradesh. "Vedanta Limited has notified the Management Committee, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas of an oil discovery in the second exploratory well H2 located in the block KG-OSN-2009/3, Krishna-Godavari basin, East Coast of India," said the company in a statement. Vedanta holds 100 per cent participating interest in the block.

Multiple reservoir zones were encountered in the well H2 within the Mesozoic sequence between the depths of 3,310 metres to 4,026 metres with hydrocarbon indications during drilling and downhole logging, it said. "The zone from 3,403 metres to 3,431 metres was tested through conventional well testing (drill stem test) and flowed oil to the surface. Further appraisal will be required to establish the size and commerciality of the oil discovery in the Mesozoic sequence," said the statement.

The first exploration well A3-2 drilled in the block was a gas discovery. Evaluations are ongoing based on the results of the first well A3-2 and the second well H2 to finalise the forward programme, said Vedanta. Vedanta's oil and gas operations comprise the assets of Cairn India, which is India's largest private sector crude oil producer. It contributed about 25 per cent to the country's domestic crude oil production in 2017-18.