Cairn Oil & Gas, part of Vedanta Ltd., has reported a gas discovery in its appraisal well Ambe-2A in the offshore Ambe block on India’s west coast, the company said on Wednesday.
The company has informed the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas about the discovery, which was made in reservoirs below the main gas field within the Miocene-Tarkeshwar formation.
Cairn said it is currently evaluating the discovery to assess the potential field development plan for the block.
Additional wells planned under offshore campaign
The Ambe block is the first Discovered Small Field (DSF) on the west coast to move towards monetisation and Cairn’s second DSF asset to reach this stage, after the Hazarigaon field in the northeast.
As part of its shallow-water drilling and development programme, Cairn plans to drill two additional wells in continuity with the ongoing campaign, taking the total planned wells to three. The company said the field could add to domestic gas output.
Cairn is developing offshore assets on both the east and west coasts as part of its broader exploration and development programme, aligned with the government’s Samudra Manthan Mission to accelerate offshore production.
The company said DSF assets could help speed up development and monetisation of shallow-water offshore fields and contribute to production growth.
Infrastructure and block details
Cairn recently installed India’s first sub-sea template as part of a conductor-supported platform installation for DSF blocks. The structure is designed to support cluster drilling, provide equipment stability and protect wellheads.
The Ambe block covers an area of 728.19 sq km and was awarded to Cairn under the DSF-III bidding round in September 2022. The first hydrocarbon discovery in the block was made during Cairn’s earlier operations in the area. The company holds a 100 per cent participating interest in the block.
