In a statement today, the Perth-based company said it had signed an agreement to use a newly built rig to drill six wells at the Cambay field and two wells planned for the Bhandut field in Gujarat.

This campaign is expected to take nine months, after which Oilex has an option to extend the rig contract for up to two years to potentially follow-up on locations at Cambay that were identified from recent 3D seismic.

Meanwhile, the company said it has installed a pumping unit at its Sabarmati-1 well, the sole producing well in the Sabarmati production-sharing contract.

As a result, output has increased from two to five barrels of oil per day to about 97bopd, according to Oilex.