Oil Indiaโs exploration well Shalmari-45 at location DIM on Assam-Arunachal border has finally started producing between 22 and 25 kilolitres/day (138-158 b/d).
Oil India says this is a step forward in meeting the crude requirements of the refineries in Assam.
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The entire production at Shalmari-45 is being evacuated by crude pipeline to a nearby Oil Collecting Station (OCS) at Shalmari village near Tingkhong town in Dibrugarh district.
Success at well Shalmari-45, however, didnโt come without its problems, forcing Oil India to sink three โholesโ since December 2018.
Spudded on December 7, 2018 with a planned Target Drilling (TD) of 4767 metres, Oil India encountered complications at 3727 metres TD.
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The drillers were compelled to carry out a fishingโ operation to retrieve stuck tools.
In early 2019, Oil India abandoned hole โAโ and using company-owned 2000-hp rig VFD-1 (E-2000) then spud โBโ hole, reaching final TD of 4767 metres before encountering another โdownholeโ problem.
Hole โBโ was also abandoned. Finally, Oil India spud a third hole โCโ and drilled it to 4728 metres final TD. โOnly this (โCโ) hole was successful,โ says an Oil India driller.
โIn the other two holes, we had โfishingโ problems and cement contamination.โ
Oil India โcompletedโ Shalmari-45 on November 28 last year, following which it carried out logging and testing.
By January this year, the well finally began producing crude.
Located on the south bank of the Burhi Dihing river, Shalmari is one of Oil Indiaโs oldest fields with the first well drilled in 1986 targeting Barail and deeper Lakadong and Therria reservoirs.
Local Oil India officials told Northeast Now similar problems as those encountered at Shalmari-45 were experienced at other wells across the region.
At the nearby 429.42-sq km Moran PML, for example, Oil India spudded well Batuya-2 at location MFF-1 on July 21 last year but it is experiencing ongoing complications.
Using a 2000-hp rig, Oil India first drilled hole โAโ to 3560 metres before abandoning drilling. Soon after the rig spud hole โBโ and drilled to 2475 metres before abandoning drilling again.
By February 18 (2020), drilling of hole โCโ had reached 4550 metres. โOil India is hoping for success here too,โ says an official.
So Shalmari-45 is a precursor for a more comprehensive breakthrough in striking oil in the area, feel Oil India sources.