Chennai-based Invenire Energy to invest $550 mn in hydrocarbons by 2026-27

Aims to increase output from 4,900 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) to 35,000 boepd; is also lining up $500 mn for coal-bed methane block in MP, where it plans to drill 500 wells

Chennai-based Invenire Energy, the only private equity-backed hydrocarbon exploration and production company in the country, is set to invest about $550 million (over Rs 4,500 crore) in the next four years to increase its production from 4,900 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) to 35,000 boepd. The firm is also lining up an investment of $500 million for its coal-bed methane block in Madhya Pradesh, where it plans to drill around 500 wells over a period of 20 years.

Through its ten producing or discovered assets, the company has a 2P (proven plus probable) reserve of about 200 million barrels of oil equivalent (mboe) and an upside 2C reserve (best estimate) of 700 mboe. Of the ten producing fields that the company has, seven are producing.  Miami-based, India-focused fund Atyant Capital holds a majority stake (67 per cent) in Invenire, which was set up in 2016. The limited partners or investors in Atyant Capital include US-based pension funds, insurance firms, endowments, and foundations.

“Our aggregate equity production is close to about 4,900 boepd and by 2026-27, we are looking to ramp up this to 35,000 boepd. This is because as per the revenue sharing contract, we have to put some assets on production within four years,” said Manish Maheshwari, Chairman, Invenire Energy. Maheshwari added that the total capex outlay for these four years will be about $550 million, of which $120-125 million will be its peak funding requirement and $425 million will be raised via internal accruals. The company is also expected to start production from its PY-3 block by August 2023, in which ONGC has more than 50 per cent stake.

Invenire Energy said it will invest $500 million over the next 20 years to produce gas from coal seams at its Madhya Pradesh block. Invenire Petrodyne Ltd (IPL), a subsidiary of the company, had won the block last year. The block lies between Chhindwara and Betul districts of the state and has a potential to produce more than one trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas.

The company had made three acquisitions between 2016 and 2020--100 per cent in Tata Sons’ oil and gas arm Tata Petrodyne through a $100-million deal, JEKPL (former Jubilant Energy Kharsang), a subsidiary of Hari Bhartia-promoted Jubilant Energy, through the insolvency process for Rs 123 crore and UK-based Hardy Oil and Gas, which holds participating interest in three hydrocarbon assets in India, for $22 million.

Invenire Energy had also acquired three fields in the third round of discovered small fields (DSF) auctions held recently. These assets, acquired by the company in DSF III Bid Round, hold the potential to conservatively produce 110 million barrels of oil during the 20-year primary production term. The three fields, namely B66, B154 and B203, are located in the Mumbai Offshore Basin and have 8 oil discoveries with in-place reserves of 344 million barrels of oil.