Yesterday, the company said it was running 9 5/8 inch casing at Cambay-71, which was at a depth of 605m.

The Cambay-71 well is located on the flank of the northern culmination of the Western High structure, about 800m northeast of Cambay-72, where it is targeting a similar geological section.

Drilling is expected to take eight to 11 days to reach a planned total depth of 1600m.

Cambay-71 will primarily target the Oligocene sandstone, while secondary potential also exists at the Miocene and upper Eocene levels. These sandstone reservoir units are proven producers in fields immediately north and south of the Cambay field.

Oil is being produced on the Western High at low rates on an intermittent basis from wells that have suffered past formation and well bore damage.

Once drilling is complete, Oilex plans to minimise costs by using a workover rig to consecutively test the Cambay-71 and Cambay-72 wells.

Late last week, the company announced that wireline logs indicated its Cambay-72 well had encountered a significant column of “excellent quality gas”.

Subject to Indian Government approval, interests in the Cambay production sharing contract will be Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (55%) and Oilex (45%).