The Government of India has announced that Santos has secured two offshore deepwater exploration licences in the Bay of Bengal, with a commitment to an eight-year USD 70 million work program. Santos subsidiary, Santos International Operations Pty Ltd, has been awarded a 100% working interest and operatorship of blocks NEC-DWN-2004/1 and NEC-DWN-2004/2, covering approximately 16,500 sq km in the Northeast Coast Basin, in the Northern Bay of Bengal. The blocks are approximately 250km south SE of Kolkata and 175km from the Indian coast. Water depth ranges from 400 to 2300m. The work program for Block NEC-DWN-2004/2 includes 2D and 3D seismic surveys and one exploration well. The work program for NEC-DWN-2004/1 consists of 2D and 3D seismic surveys. The exploration period for both blocks is 8 years.
