India: HOEC to tie-back Cauvery block well to PY-1 platform

India's first private sector oil and gas company Hindustan Oil Exploration Company (HOEC) has launched an ambitious tie-back project under its Cauvery offshore gas development plan in the PY-1 block. 'The Aban offshore-owned Jack up rig, Deep Driller-8, has been mobilized in the block to tie-back the development well, dubbed Earth,' a senior HOEC official, familiar with the mega project, has revealed today.

The rig, which operates at water depths up to 375 feet, may drill two more producer wells in the block, the sources also added. HOEC is to have entered into a $30 million drilling deal with Aban for Deep Driller-8 in the Cauvery basin.

Earth is the first PY-1 producer well in the Cauvery block. The well was previously tested and subsequently suspended for future tie-back to offshore platform. The project is expected to be completed by the end of this year and production is likely to commence by 2010.

The initial plateau production rate from the offshore field has been considered at 45 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (MMSCFD). The PY-1 gas field and PY-3 oil field form part of the Cauvery offshore block. Both fields are ring-fenced, each with its own production sharing contract (PSC).

HOEC has also begun work on a revised plan of development (RPoD) in PY-1. The company will start with completing three long horizontal wells under the revised plan of development, sources added.

The company is also expected install a sub-sea pipeline and a terminal in the south-east coast block in addition to development drilling work, as part of the $140 million field development plan (FDP).