(FE)
RIL will further invest Rs 40,000 crore with its partner BP Plc towards the development of its flagship gas production block KG D6 in Krishna Godavari basin, off India’s east coast, chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Thursday. With this new investment, Reliance Industries expects to bring in 30-35 billion cubic meters of natural gas production and sustain it over the next 7-8 years, Mukesh Ambani said. The new government policies facilitated fresh investments in the aging KG-D6 block, Mukesh Ambani said.
The joint venture, in which Reliance Industries holds 60% operating stake and BP Plc has 30% equity stake, has started awarding works contracts for the development of R-series gas fields, the British firm’s group chief executive Bob Dudley said. The D-34 field, which will be developed, is a dry gas fields in water depths of up to 2,000 meters, 70 kilometers offshore, Dudley said. Further, the venture plans to submit field development plans for development of satellite fields and D-55 fields by the end of the year 2017, Dudley said.
KG-D6 block is estimated to have total proven reserves at 2.65 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. However, the production at this field in the Krishna Godavari basin has been on a decline due to natural aging of the block. Earlier last year, the natural gas output KG-D6 fields fell 29% on-year to 24.4 billion cubic feet in the fiscal third quarter.
The renewed investments in the KG-D6 fields will reduce India’s import dependence by as much as 10% by the year 2022, Bob Dudley said. The increased production will be equivalent to $20 billion worth of LNG imports, he said. Reliance Industries also said it would continue to make periodic announcements on KG-D6 developments over the next one year. Mukesh Ambani said he expects the new fields in the KG-D6 block to come onstream from the year 2020.
