Indian Oil Corp's US Shale Asset Generates $10 Mn Revenue

Indian Oil Corporation’s (IOC) US shale asset has generated a cumulative revenue of $10.31 million by last fiscal end, Financial Express newspaper reported Monday.

The state owned firm acquired a 10% stake in the US-based Carrizo Oil and Gas Inc's liquid-rich shale assets in Colorado in 2012, resulting in IOC’s foray into exploration.

“Participation in the Niobrara shale asset resulted in the first-ever revenue earnings for IOC from upstream business,” a company official told Financial Express.

In October 2012, IOC and Oil India had announced acquiring 10% and 20% stake, respectively, in Carrizo's Niobrara shale assets for $82.5 million for 60,000 net acre. The IOC board had approved its share of acquisition of $27.5 million plus the firm's share of the project cost totaling around $75.5 million, according to the newspaper.

At the time of acquisition, about 23 wells were on production, Financial Express said. This increased to 114 wells as of April 30. The well head production hovers around 4.15 million barrels oil and around 5.56 billion cubic feet of gas (bcf). This is equivalent to about 5.08 million barrels of oil equivalent (mboe).