Huge oil and gas reserves have been discovered in four districts of Rajasthan, bordering Pakistan, the state government announced on Friday.

Essar with Polish Oil and Gas company is drilling digging wells in the Nanuwala area of Sriganganagar district, while the Oil India Limited has entered into an agreement with a Venezuelen company to exploit the 14.6 million tonne oil and 33.2 million tonne bitumen reserves it discovered near Bagewala in Jaisalmer district.

Phoenic Overseas has been allotted a block in the Shahgarh area of Jaisalmer district, an official press note stated. The ONGC and Indian Oil have have also discovered huge reserves of gas in 57 wells in the Jaisalmer Basin.

Lignite reserves of nearly ten billion tonnes discovered at depths of 200-500 metres in Barmer and Bikaner districts could be used in energy production, it stated.

Shell Energy/Cairns will soon start digging three wells in Barmer district, where they discovered a huge quantity of aviation fuel near Gudha Malani and Koslu. Koslu itself contains nearly 20-40 million barrels of oil reserves, the press note added.

UNI