Cairn's Rajasthan oil reserve huge

"Cairn currently estimates the total oil in place, in all 12 existing discoveries to date in the Rajasthan basin, excluding gas, to be in excess of 2.5 billion barrels," the company said.

The British firm plans to produce oil from the three largest finds to date in the north, namely Mangala, Bhagyam and Aishwariya. These three fields contain 1.6 billion barrels of oil reserves, Cairn said.

Additionally recovery from Mangala and Bhagyam using enhanced oil recovery techniques has the potential to add up to a further 150 million barrels of oil reserves.

"The combined production target for these three northern fields is currently planned to be between 120,000 and 150,000 barrels of oil a day. The first oil production from Mangala is scheduled for the end of 2007," Cairn said.