GSPC spuds third appraisal well in Deen Dayal East area of KG block

The state-run Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) today said it has spudded its third appraisal well in the Deen Dayal East (DDE) area of the Krishna Godavari (KG) Block, off Andhra Pradesh coast.

This latest well will take the total number of wells drilled on the KG Block to 18, with the previous 13 wells, all flowing with gas and condensates, a GSPC official said.

The state PSU's block partner Jubilant Energy stated in a release that the DDE-A-2 appraisal well was spudded on 9 February in a water depth of 99 metres using Aban Offshores jack-up Deep Driller-1 rig.

The well is being drilled to a total depth of 5,300 metres to appraise the lower Cretaceous Early Rift fill sands which were found to be hydrocarbon bearing in the KG-16 discovery well, it said in a statement.

GSPC is operator of the KG Block and holds a 80 per cent interest, while Jubilant holds a 10 per cent.

In a major boost to GSPC's gas finding potential in the block, the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas of the MoPNG, had recently approved an extension of 20.5 square kilometres to its existing contract for the KG Block (KG-OSN-2001/3).

The field development plan for the Deen Dayal West (DDW) area in the KG block, which includes wells KG-8, KG-15, KG-17 and KG-28, was approved by the Government of India in November 2009.

The hydrocarbon plays encountered in discovery wells KG-8 and KG-15 extend towards the South/SouthWest of the original block boundary. These areas are now covered by the extension to the block, a GSPC official said.

As a result of the extension, approved development area for DDW has increased from 17 square kilometres to a total of 37.5 square kilometres.