Vedanta Invests Big in Rajasthan Oil Fields Amid Supply Gap
Vedanta is investing about $200 million in its mature oil fields in Rajasthan to slow the decline of India's domestic crude supply. The plan, which targets over 150,000 barrels per day from the Mangla field, is a test of whether enhanced recovery methods can stem production losses.
The company's interim CEO, Jim Johnny Gast, said producing fields are experiencing natural declines of 1-3% and that Vedanta will rely on techniques like polymer flooding to counter this decline. The goal is to increase recovery from existing wells from 41% to 60%, with a focus on Mangla, which has been one of the company's top producers since its discovery in 2004.
The investment aims to address India's widening supply gap, where total crude production has remained between 0.87 million and 0.99 million barrels over the past 20 years while consumption rose from 2.65 million to 5.6 million barrels. Gast said Vedanta is exploring smaller sedimentary basins but also prioritizing enhanced recovery to support present output.