Cairn India, on Tuesday, announced that it had made the 26th oil discovery in its Rajasthan block.

The block management committee had approved the exploration work programme for the RJ-ON-90/1 block on February 14 after which Cairn India commenced drilling of its first exploration well, Raageshwari-South-1, on February 25 located in the southern part of the block. “Technical evaluations indicate about 10 metres of gross oil column within Dharvi Dungar formation.

Vedanta group firm Cairn India Tuesday said it has made the 26th oil discovery in its RJ-ON-90/1 block in Rajasthan's Barmer district.

In a move that could give a fillip to India's unconventional gas production, the ministry of environment and forests has given the phase-III clearance for Essar Oil's Raniganj block in West Bengal. The company will now be able to drill up to 650 wells, compared with the current 135.

The clearances would help Essar Oil invest another Rs 2,500 crore to increase the number of drilled wells to 300 by the end of this year and also rise production to three million standard cubic metres of gas per day (scmd), up from around 60,000 scmd.

Scrips of RIL, ONGC down

The Finance Minister's announcement for the oil and gas companies did not cheer key players in the industry.

Industry players gave a thumbs down to FM's proposal to review the oil and gas exploration policy and move from profit sharing to revenue sharing contracts. "The proposal to the move from profit sharing model to revenue sharing model marks substantial increase in risk profile for exploration and production companies. From an overall perspective, Budget 2013 has a negative bias for oil and gas industry," said Nabin Ballodia, Partner-Tax, KPMG India.

The Directorate-General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) has held back approvals for work programme (WP) and budget for KG-DWN-98/3 (KG-D6) block for 2012-13 and 2013-14, seeking an explanation on various iss

State-run ONGC, which has a 30% stake in Cairn India-operated Rajasthan oilfields, has refused to share the cost of further exploration in the block that the government had recently allowed to help

The Arctic needs to be better protected from a rush for natural resources as melting ice makes mineral and energy exploration easier, the United Nations' Environment Programme (UNEP) said.

The Arctic needs to be better protected from a rush for natural resources as melting ice makes mineral and energy exploration easier, the United Nations' Environment Programme (UNEP) said.

A draft document by the Arctic Council fails to define liability for accidents in an icy region opening up due to global warming