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The dawn of oil exploration in India began in 1889 with the discovery of Digboi well No. 1, the country’s first commercial well. Notwithstanding very low production, Digboi boasts the world’s oldest continuously producing oilfield to this day. |
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Much like Jed Clampett of the 1960s TV series “The Beverly Hillbillies”, Lt. R Wilcox of the 46th Regiment Native Infantry witnessed the ooze bubbling up to the surface amid the jungles of Upper Assam, located in Northeastern India. According to legend, an elephant working for the Assam Railways & Trading Company Ltd. returned from the jungle with traces of oil on his tail. Workers retraced the footprints that lead them into the forest and subsequently to the oil seepage. |
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In the century that followed, roughly 250 oil and gas fields were discovered including the largest oil discovery, an impressive 7 billion barrels, made in Bombay High in 1974. Since 1985, another 750+ producing wells were discovered and several successful gas discoveries were made in the last eight years in the Krishna Godavari basin of offshore India. These recent discoveries have placed the East Coast of India on the map of world-class areas and have brought much deserved recognition and attention to India’s exploration and production industry.
However, India’s thirst for energy is mounting. In tandem with that demand is the ever-increasing challenge of ensuring energy security for the country. In the last 20 years, production has remained relatively flat while demand has nearly tripled. India is now the second fastest growing energy market but is the eleventh largest energy producer. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, India consumes roughly 2.2 million barrels a day and this is expected to rise to 5.3 million barrels a day by 2025. Indigenous energy resources will eventually become insufficient and unable to sustain the growing demand. |
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In an effort to meet the energy supply gap, the government of India implemented the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP). This policy, which has been effective since 2000, has begun to level the playing field by awarding exploration licenses through a competitive bidding system. The national oil companies (NOCs) are required to compete on equal footing with Indian and foreign companies to secure petroleum exploration licenses. Since its implementation, 162 exploration blocks have been awarded over the course of six bid rounds and 20 foreign companies have been awarded exploration blocks. The government of India is committed to offering blocks in the coming years and by 2015 the entire sedimentary basin area is planned to be brought under exploration. |
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NELP has helped to open exploration in India, but the domestic oil & gas scene has also been hampered by the lack of good quality data to drive exploration. IndiaSPAN, which was designed to provide a better understanding of the regional geology and less explored basins in the region, has provided a first look into new petroleum systems with significant hydrocarbon potential. IndiaSPAN has changed the understanding of the deepwater offshore basins off the Eastern and Western coasts of India and has ignited significant interest in further exploring the hydrocarbon potential of these frontier regions. Due to this success, IndiaSPAN is proving to be a high-value tool for E&P companies who are bidding in the NELP-VII Licensing Round scheduled for April 2008. |
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