Canoro Resources Ltd may finally get to drill in the Nagaland portion of the Assam-Arakan onshore block AA-ON/7. The operator has filed for permission to begin drilling work in Nagaland part of the northeastern acreage.

Canoro had earlier requested the government to split up the PSC for AA-ON/7 -- 770 sq km of the block falls in Assam while 218 sq km falls in Nagaland, into two parts. The company wants the Nagaland portion of the block to be spun off into a separate PSC as the area is militancy prone and has peculiar land laws, which did not allow any exploration work to take place here.

The Canadian upstream firm has done ample work and has been able to hammer out a consensus to begin exploration work in the acreage. Canoro will drill a total of two wells at a cost of Rs 60 crores in the Nagaland portion, local sources have said.

Canoro is expected to shortly finalize a well site on the Nagaland side and work is currently underway in the Naga foothills for the construction of the access road and wellsite to drill the deep sub-thrust well. Notably work on drilling the fifth exploration well in the onshore block is scheduled to begin February 2009.

Canoro recently plugged and abandoned the Borkathani exploration well after no commercial reserves were found during a series of testing operations.

Tags: Canoro Resources Ltd.