The Perth-based company today said its best resource estimate for the Cambay Field is 48 million barrels of oil, up from the 43MMbbl estimated in May last year.

Its best estimate for gas in the field has grown to 356 billion cubic feet of gas, a jump from the 173Bcf estimated in May 2006.

The company also reported a best estimate of 14MMbbl of condensate, up from 3.7MMbbl last May.

Oilex said it had incorporated the interpretation of the recently acquired Cambay 3D seismic survey and new well data for the estimate, which is confined to the Oligocene OS II and Eocene EP IV reservoir intervals.

“The hydrocarbon distribution is now better defined by more accurate fault mapping and seismic amplitude extraction from 3D data and is supported by well data in the field area,” Oilex said.

“The recognition of additional gas resources based on seismic attribute analysis is reflected by a substantial increase in gas and condensate volumes.”

Oilex said an estimate of undiscovered (exploration) resources of 60MMbbl of oil and 120Bcf of gas accounts for potential resources mainly in deeper stratigraphic units.

Meanwhile, the company said its work program for 2007 will mainly focus on the Phase 2 drilling campaign, comprising six wells, in the Cambay field.

“A combination of re-entry, sidetrack and new wells has been sanctioned with the primary objective of acquiring new reservoir and fluid data for the Oligocene and Eocene hydrocarbon zones that have been identified from the field’s production and well testing history,” Oilex said.

Along with data from existing wells, Oilex said this information will be used to determine oil and gas reserves in the field and will form the basis for planning the re-development of it.

A number of wells are also planned to be extended to target deeper exploration objectives in settings analogous to nearby oil discoveries, it said.

Tenders have been received for the supply of drilling equipment for the Phase 2 campaign so that up to three wells can be completed during May-July 2007. The six-well program will be completed later this year.

As operator, Oilex holds a 45% stake in the Cambay production sharing contract, while Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation owns the remaining 55%.