Jaisalmer: Oil India Limited has recorded its highest-ever crude oil production from Rajasthan’s Thar Desert, producing 1,202 barrels per day of heavy crude from the Jodhpur Sandstone formation in Jaisalmer.Officials said the terminal production level was about 70% higher than last year’s 705 barrels per day. For the full year, crude oil output from the Thar Desert rose to 43,773 metric tonnes from 32,787 metric tonnes a year earlier.The company said the increase was driven by improved recovery practices, efficient drilling and modernisation, and would support India’s energy self-reliance and energy security goals.A key factor behind the rise was the deployment of Cyclic Steam Stimulation technology for heavy oil extraction in the region. Officials said this was the first time the technology had been used in Rajasthan’s heavy oil reservoirs, allowing production from high-viscosity crude that is difficult to extract through conventional methods. They described the use of CSS nearly three decades after the field’s discovery as a significant breakthrough.The Baghewala oil field, in the south-western part of the Bikaner-Nagaur sub-basin of the Rajasthan Basin, is among the few onshore heavy crude-producing fields in India. Oil India implemented CSS in 19 wells, up 72% from last year. Despite complex geology, the company drilled 13 new wells, compared with nine in the previous year.It also introduced advanced techniques such as fishbone drilling and barefoot completion, being used for the first time in India’s heavy oil reservoirs, to improve well productivity.Oil India has been producing heavy oil from Baghewala since 2017. Discovered in 1991, the field spans 200.26 sq km and has 52 wells, of which 33 are currently producing. Officials said the crude’s high viscosity made standard extraction methods unviable, requiring thermal recovery solutions.
