BP on fourth corehole at Birbhum
BP has completed drilling three coreholes at its CBM exploration block BB-CBM-2005/III CBM in the Birbhum district of West Bengal.
PETROWATCH learns BP is set to spud the fourth of eight committed core holes in the first phase of exploration and will use a CBM drilling rig hired from Mitchell Drilling, on site since October last year. “We are simultaneously testing â€کsamples’ collected from the three core holes drilled,†BP tells this report.
“Once all eight coreholes are drilled we will hire a (separate) drilling rig to drill five committed test wells.†Separately BP is not having much luck finding a partner as it attempts to â€کfarm-out’ up to 50% of its 100% stake in the block, made public in April this year.
BP’s lone suitor Oil India has apparently lost interest. Analysts tell this report that BP’s decision to offer a Production Linked Payment (PLP) of 40% to the government is too high, and is deterring companies that might initially have been interested in a â€کfarm-in’.