Cairn Oil & Gas starts gas flow in India's Assam state

Cairn Oil & Gas, a unit of Mumbai-listed Vedanta, has started test production from its Hazarigaon field in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, it announced on April 21.

The gas produced by Cairn Oil & Gas is evacuated through a main trunk pipeline, and a gas cascading system to Assam Gas Company (AGCL). The gas evacuation from the field will be used by tea growers among other industries.

Additionally, the gas from Hazarigaon is to be used to fuel 100 CNG buses that will be plying in Guwahati, the capital of Assam, as part of the clean energy initiative of the government of Assam, the company said.

Cairn Oil & Gas said that the state of Assam and the northeast region remains a top priority for the company, which is committed to investing in developing oil and gas resources that will provide energy supply to many ancillary industries.

The company plans to drill five to 10 high-impact exploration wells in the next two years across the Golaghat, Jorhat and Tinsukia districts of Assam.

Cairn holds 7,650 km² of acreage in Assam Arakan basin with 12 open acreage licensing policy (OALP) and three DSF blocks. The acreage has a resource potential of up to 1bn barrels of oil equivalent. Cairn has also conducted large-scale airborne gravity magnetic and seismic survey for exploration.

Cairn Oil & Gas entered into a gas sales agreement with AGCL that laid down the infrastructure for the distribution of gas to the industry through pipelines. The company said it is working closely with AGCL and other infrastructure companies to make gas accessible to industries in Assam. By the end of April, evacuation of gas in Hazarigaon is expected to ramp up as tea industry demand increases.