Jaipur, March 27 (IANS) Cairn India, a subsidiary of British oil explorer Cairn Energy, continues to be bullish on oilfields in Rajasthan and is set to begin oil production in 2009.

"We continue to be focused on delivering the Rajasthan development and ensuring the upstream project remains on track to produce first oil in 2009," Cairn Energy chief executive Sir Bill Gammell said in a statement Tuesday.

Just over three years ago Cairn had discovered Mangala oil field in the state.

The Mangala field will be the first to go on production and the Bhagyam and Aishwariya fields will follow. The targeted gross production from these three fields is 150,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd), a company release said.

Laboratory studies have indicated that early application of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques on the Mangala and Bhagyam fields is expected to extend significantly the production plateau and ultimate reserves for these fields.

The upstream picture in Rajasthan is also progressing well, the company said.

Current estimates for the proven and probable (2P) hydrocarbons in place for the six fields of Mangala, Bhagyam, Aishwariya, Saraswati, Raageshwari Oil and Raageshwari Deep Gas total 2.2 billion boe (barrel of oil equivalent) and the associated 2P reserves plus contingent resources are 864 million boe.

Over the coming years, Cairn India's focus will be on converting as much of this contingent resource base into 2P reserves as is economically possible, the release said.

Work is also on to establish optimal enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques in the Rajasthan block to extend plateau production and maximise recovery factors.

Laboratory work is currently underway to establish the potential of these technologies, particularly in relation to how they can be used in Mangala and Bhagyam, the largest of the Rajasthan fields.

The first phase of development drilling on the Saraswati has been completed and development drilling is now underway on the Raageshwari. Development drilling on Mangala is scheduled to commence in 2008.