BPCL trades in green on the BSE

BPC is currently trading at Rs. 540.05, up by 22.80 points or 4.41 % from its previous closing of Rs. 517.25 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 519.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 541.00 and Rs. 512.35 respectively. So far 62507 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 721.65 on 15-Dec-2010 and a 52 week low of Rs. 487.05 on 24-Nov-2011.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 541.00 and Rs. 487.05 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 18700.77 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 54.93% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 27.74% and 17.3% respectively.

Bharat PetroResources (BPRL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), has informed that Anadarko Mocambique Area 1 Limitada, the Operator of exploration block in Rovuma Basin, Area 1, offshore Mozambique, has reported that the Barquentine-3 appraisal well has encountered more than 202 net meters of natural gas pay in two high-quality Oligocene-aged fan systems.

This exploration significantly expands the estimated recoverable resource range to 15 to 30+ trillion cubic feet (Tel) of natural gas, with an estimated 30 to 501- Tcf of natural gas in place. Barquentine-3 is the sixth successful well in the complex that includes the Windjammer, Lagosta, Barquentine and Camarao discoveries.

The Barquentine-3 appraisal well was drilled to a total depth of approximately 4,084 meters in water depths of approximately 1,575 meters. The well is located approximately 4.4 kilometres southeast of the Barquentine discovery well and approximately 2.9 kilometres south of the Barquentine-2 appraisal well.

The operator also informed that the recoverable resources of this size and quality are suited for a large-scale LNG development, which is currently being designed for at least two trains with the flexibility to expand to six trains. The pre-FEED (front-end engineering and design) activity for the LNG development is nearing completion and FEED work is expected to begin in the near future.

The drillship Belford Dolphin will next move to top set the Barquentjnc-4 appraisal well. The operator is also in the process of mobilizing the Deepwater Millennium drillship to accelerate its activity in the block. Recently, the company also has signed a four-year contract extension that will keep the Belford Dolphin drillship working in the basin as part of its ongoing program.

The consortium members in the block are Anadarko Mocambique Area 1 Limitada (36.5% PI), BPRL Ventures Mozambique R.V (10% PI), a wholly owned overseas subsidiary of BPRL, Videocon Mozambique Rovuma 1 (10 % PI), Cove Energy Mozambique Rovuma Offshore, (8,5% PI) and Mitsui E&P Mozambique Area 1, (20% PI). The balance 15% PI is with Empressa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos £.P (ENH) the national oil company of Mozambique, who are carried through the exploration phase.