Mangala oilfield output reaches 1 mn barrels

Cairn India, which began production from the world class Mangala oilfield in Rajasthan in late August, has reached 1 million barrels of oil output from the nation's most prolofic onland field.

"Cairn achieved the milestone of successfully producing and delivering 1 million barrel of crude oil in the early hours this morning," sources in know said.

The company, which began output from Mangala on August 29, is currently producing 20,000 barrels per day.

The initial volumes of crude oil were sold to Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemical, a subsidiary of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), and Reliance Industries (RIL).

Mangala field, which was discovered in January 2004, is the largest onshore oil discovery in India in more than two decades.

Mangala and adjoining Bhagyam and Aishwariya fields have recoverable oil reserves of nearly 1 billion barrels.

Sources said crude is currently being supplied to two of the three buyers - MRPL and RIL. Indian Oil Corp (IOC) is expected to get its supply from 2010.

The oil is being sold at an average of 10-15 per cent discount to the average price of Brent crude oil during the six months to September 2009, they said.

The Mangala crude from Rajasthan is a 27 degree API good quality sweat crude with very low sulphur content.

Sources said Cairn was producing from the four out of the 26 completed wells in the Mangala field.

Crude oil is being transported to Gujarat coast in trucks for onward transport to MRPL and RIL, using heated crude oil tankers.

Oil produced from Mangala field is processed at 30,000 bpd capacity Train-One while construction work on Train Two (50,000 bpd capacity) is moving at brisk pace and expected to be ready by early 2010, they said.

With the completion of the second train, which will be in sink with the commissioning of a pipeline from Barmer district of Rajasthan to Gujarat coast, the production is expected to increase considerably.

The pipeline would eliminate the trucking of oil that is happening now.

Peak output from Mangala, Bhagyam and Aishwariya fields is estimated at 175,000 bpd by 2011.