The Government of India, acting through the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, has granted its approval for a 10-year extension of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) to Cairn Oil & Gas, Vedanta Ltd., for the Ravva block in Andhra Pradesh. With this extension, the PSC is now valid effective 28 October 2019, for the next 10 years.

Ravva, the oldest producing asset in India for Cairn, becomes the first large field to get PSC Extension under the “Policy for the Grant of Extension to the Production Sharing Contracts signed by Government awarding small, medium sized, and discovered fields to private Joint Ventures”.

The extension will enable the Joint Venture partners to recover ~13 million barrels of oil equivalent. In addition, the JV partners will invest ~INR 550 crore (USD 78 million) to drill seven wells under Revised Field Development Plan (RFDP) targeting additional reserves of ~11.7 million barrels of oil equivalent. These campaigns put the JV on course for yet another milestone in hydrocarbon recovery from this world-class offshore asset.

Speaking on the development, Anil Agarwal, Chairman, Vedanta Resources Ltd., said, “The Ravva PSC extension is one more example of the trust the government has reposed in us. We look forward to working with all our partners towards achieving our vision of contributing 50 percent of the country’s domestic production and supporting the government in its energy security goals.”

The company has been a pioneer in speedy adoption of cutting-edge technologies, and this was demonstrated best at Ravva where Cairn took production up from 3,000 to 50,000 barrels of oil per day, and sustained this production for nine years.

“Fast-tracking decision making will help quicker and timely recovery of these additional reserves. Ravva is a fine example of augmenting production in an ageing oil field with the help of the most advanced technological interventions in the industry globally. We have also always advocated a sustainable and safe work environment and Ravva has been a testament to our efforts with a slew of awards to its credit. Our endeavour is to make Ravva a global case study for enhanced recovery in an ageing oil field”, Ajay Kumar Dixit, CEO, Cairn Oil & Gas, Vedanta Ltd., said.

• As of 31 October 2019, this asset has:
  • Produced 295 million barrels of oil and 418 billion cubic feet of gas equivalent to 365 million barrels of oil equivalent
  • Generated revenue of USD 16.8 billion till March 2019.
  • Contributed USD 7.5 billion in profit petroleum to the Government till March 2019
• Exploration potential in the block: ~60 million barrels of oil equivalent.
• In a do-nothing scenario, with the extension of Ravva PSC for 10 years, the company will be able to recover ~13 million barrels of oil equivalent.
• Furthermore, as per RFDP, the company will invest ~INR 550 crore (USD 78 million) for drilling 7 RFDP wells targeting additional reserves of ~11.7 million barrels of oil equivalent.
• Some of the technologies deployed in Ravva block include 4D Seismic, E-line Tractor & Stoker base milling operations, Cement Packer Jobs, Produced Water Reinjection etc.