Bengal Energy Ltd, a Canadian oil and gas exploration and production company based in Calgary, announced that it is joining hands with India-based groups for exploration in the Cauvery basin.

Led by Chayan Chakrabarty, Bengal Energy Ltd stated that it will join the Gas Authority of India (GAIL) and the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation to carry out exploration in 234,000 acres of the Cauvery Basin.

Moreover, the company said that the Tamil Nadu administration has formally signed a 4-year deal with the consortium in which GAIL holds 40% stake, Bengal Energy and the Gujarat petroleum Corporation 30% each.

The company said that exploration work is likely to begin soon.

The Calgary-based company said, "In the first year of the four-year agreement, Bengal and its partners plan to undertake an aggressive exploration of 2,300 km of air-borne magnetometry and reprocessing 1,700 km of 2D seismic data.''

It said exploratory goals that have already been keyed out will entail drilling from 500 to 2,000 metres. After exploratory examinations, actual drilling will start by the coming year.

The Canadian company, which is presently focused on exploration in India and Australia, said, "The Cauvery Basin is an active producing basin in the southern part of the east coast of India. The basin covers approximately 250,000 square kilometers and has 28 producing oil and gas fields." (With Input from Agencies)