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Informist, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025

 

--Source: Vedanta plans to develop 13 hydrocarbon offshore wells in Gujarat

--Source: Vedanta plans to build subsea pipeline to connect new wells

--Source: Vedanta plans to spend INR-19.12-bln capex to develop new wells

--Source:Vedanta seeks green nod for Gujarat offshore wells development plan

 

By Narayana Krishna and Sunil Raghu

 

HYDERABAD/AHMEDABAD - Vedanta Ltd. plans to spend INR 19.12 billion in capital expenditure to drill 13 wells off Gujarat coast and lay a subsea pipeline, a central government official said on condition of not being identified. The activity will involve off-shore drilling, installing unmanned wellhead platforms, and laying about 50 km of subsea pipelines to transport produced hydrocarbons to Vedanta's operational Laxmi Platform and Suvali Onshore Terminal on southern Gujarat coast.

"This is a proven area with decent amount of hydrocarbons. It is also adjacent to Welspun-Adani block and Gujarat State Petroleum Corp. Ltd.'s Hazira block that produced natural gas for years," a senior energy department official in Gujarat government said.

 

Vedanta would carry out drilling at this offshore oil and gas development and production block Cambay Basin/Off-Shore Discovered Small Field/AMBE/2021, or CB/OSDSF/AMBE/2021, through its business division--Cairn Oil & Gas. This block is spread across an estimated 730 square kilometre area in the Gulf of Khambhat. Vedanta has been operating in the Cambay Basin through legacy Lakhsmi and Gauri fields and added shallow-water and discovered small field acreage, including Ambe field. It has cumulatively produced over 50 million barrels of oil annually with annual oil output around 3 million barrels per year. The estimated ultimate recovery for the Ambe block is stated to be around 20 million barrels oil equivalent.

 

According to media reports, Vedanta has a near-term capex of about INR 190 billion aimed at boosting its reserves. Both Cairn and Vedanta have indicated that they want to achieve a five-fold increase in their production in the country from around 100,000 barrels per day currently. The offshore fields Cambay, or Khambhat, Basin are relatively smaller compared with Vedanta's fields in the Rajasthan block and are expected to produce 10-15% of oil and natural gas going forward.

 

According to sources, Cairn expects production to reach 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent from Ambe field once production goes on-stream. The company is keen to begin drilling wells from next month and production could reach optimum level in 18-36 months. Vedanta has already sought environmental clearance to drill these wells as part of its offshore development plan. "Though shallow water or mid-sized fields as Ambe deliver modest output in terms of oil but they are attractive in near term production and cash flow basis. They also help balance incremental oil and gas needs in the region," the senior Gujarat state government official said.

 

Other than capex of INR 19.12 billion, Vedanta would be required to carry out a one-time spend of an estimated INR 20 million on environmental management, with recurring cost of INR 1.5 million per annum. Additionally, INR 72 million have been allocated for extended environmental corporate responsibility activities, central government source said. Vedanta could not be contacted for its comments.

 

At 1352 IST, shares of Vedanta traded at INR 435.90 per share on the National Stock Exchange, up 0.5%.  End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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