AVR set for $12m DSF-1 drilling campaign
Chennai-based AVR Oil and Gas will likely start its delayed three-well campaign at ultra-shallow water DSF-1 block KG/OSDSF/GSKV1/2016 this year (2023).
An affiliate of the Indian Molasses Company (IMC), AVR believes environment ministry approval is imminent after it filed a new application for permission to begin drilling on March 15 (2023) after filing a 94-page reply to a four-point ministry request on January 2 (2023). As requested, AVR has attached a seven-page letter dated February 23 (2023) from the Andhra Pradesh Coastal Zone Management Authority (APCZMA) supporting the project.
On January 2 (2023), the ministry asked AVR to submit a copy of APCZMA's forwarding letter with its recommendations. "We asked AVR for clarifications and additional inputs," confirms a ministry source.
"And we have received the replies." AVR also submitted a report on the public hearing conducted on March 31 (2022) with photographs and transcripts.
Also listed is a point-wise action plan AVR proposes to address problems raised during the hearing at Kesavadasupalem village after environmentalists protested, forcing police to keep an angry crowd at bay. Under the estimated Rs100cr ($12.15m) campaign, AVR proposes three wells, plus the installation and commissioning of an Early Production System (EPS) and a Gas Processing Unit (GPU).
Also proposed are associated pipelines in the 24.2-sq km KG/OSDSF/GSKV1/2016 area near Kesavadasupalem village, where the block boundary starts from the beach. All the wells will be drilled to a depth of 3000 to 4000 metres, with 90 to 150 days of drilling at each well site.
AVR plans to use an onshore rig along with an ultra-shallow jack-up. AVR wants to drill each well using a telescopic hole from 26 inches to 8.5 inches in diameter from the surface to TD.
After well completions, pipelines will be laid in the field to transport well fluids to the EPS and GPU. Similar gas pipelines will be laid from the EPS/GPU to the gas buyer or the GAIL trunk line.
"AVR proposes to lay a 10-km pipeline parallel to the existing gas pipelines at Kesanapalli and Kesavadasupalem to the maximum extent technically feasible," we hear.