Jubilant prepares to drill two wells at Tripura block
After two years of frustrating delay, Delhi-based Jubilant Oil & Gas has at last received oil ministry approval to enter Phase-II at its 1680-sq km AA-ONN-2002/1 exploration block in remote Tripura.
Jubilant began Phase-II on January 25 after receiving ministry approval and is preparing to drill two exploration wells committed under its Minimum Work Programme, with the first scheduled for April in the block’s forested North Atharmura region. This well is likely to be drilled to 3000 metres TD using a 1300-hp rig from Quippo at around $26,000/day.
A firm location for the second well is yet to be confirmed. Jubilant (80%) and partner GAIL (20%) are considering three options: Khushiram, a forested area near the Gumti River; the Tulamura area in south Tripura; and the site of the KL-SE appraisal well drilled earlier at the block.
“We are proposing to treat the KL-SE well as an exploration well with both appraisal and exploration objectives,” explains a source. “We wrote to GAIL on December 27 (2011) asking them to approve ‘civil work’ for this location but have yet to hear anything back.
We also sent a proposal to GAIL on January 25 for ‘civil work’ at Khushiram.” Besides the two wells committed under Phase-II, Jubilant might also drill an additional two exploration wells.
“We want GAIL to look at the Atharamura ‘anticline’ with a broader view and hope it will agree to drill as many wells as are needed to explore the ‘anticline’ properly,” says Jubilant. “It’s better to plan drilling in an integrated manner rather than going about it in a piecemeal way.
” Jubilant reckons it might also need to hire a ‘workover rig’ to re-enter the Ambasa North exploration well, drilled during Phase-I.