The Perth-based company yesterday said it would gain a 40% participating interest in the Bhandut and Sabarmati fields and an additional 15% net participating interest in the Cambay field.

The interests were acquired from Niko Resources under a deal made in February last year.

The Bhandut field is near the Lakshmi, Gauri and Hazira fields that are producing gas and oil from reservoir intervals similar to those intersected in the Bhandut wells. It has produced about 700,000 barrels of oil since 1993.

In 2002, the field was producing oil at rates of about 400 barrels per day before suffering likely formation damage during workover activities, Oilex said. Thereafter, the average daily rate declined to the current rate of about 20bopd per well from two wells.

“We believe that there is an excellent chance of improving the production rate with the application of modern technology based on new, high resolution seismic data,” Oilex said.

The acquisition of 18.4 square kilometres of 3D seismic data over the Bhandut block area is expected to be completed by end-February.

Oilex said the data would be used to refine the company’s redevelopment plan for the field. Two wells are planned to be drilled in the 2007 fourth quarter.

The Sabarmati field on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, the largest city in Gujarat, covers an area of 6sq.km.

Oilex said there was no seismic data on the block and oil has been produced intermittently there, at low rates from an Eocene interval in Sabarmati-1, the only well on the field, it said.

The company said it was investigating the possibility of acquiring a seismic survey over Sabarmati in first half of this year.

“This survey, together with studies of the potential increase in production capacity of the Sabarmati-1 well, will provide the basis for further drilling, if justified, later this year,” Oilex said.

The company also said data from the 3D seismic survey late last year over the entire contract area of the Cambay field has now been processed and the interpretation of 10 horizons was nearly finished.

An update on the forward work program there is expected to be provided later this month, it said.

Oilex is operator of all three fields.