Kuala Lumpur: Essar Energy plans to start exploratory drilling at its blocks off Mumbai and Vietnam in September or October, hoping to discover reserves to increase its crude oil production.
“We will be drilling a couple of exploration wells in Mumbai offshore and Vietnam in the fair weather window later this year. Depending on the results of the initial drilling, we will decide how many wells we want to drill,” said Manish Maheswari, ceo, exploration and production at Essar Energy’s oil and gas arm Essar Oil.
Maheswari said the company hopes to capitalise on significantly lower costs for its exploration drilling campaigns as oilfield service providers have reduced costs by up to 30% in a bid to grab a slice of the shrinking market.
Essar Energy has a 30% stake in shallow water exploration block MBOSN-2005/3, located near the Mumbai High field offshore Mumbai, and 50% interest in Block 114, located in Song Hong Basin offshore Vietnam.
