RIL-BP ahead of schedule in KG D6; MJ field will start production next year

Reliance Industries (RIL) and BP Plc commenced production from the Satellite Cluster gas field at KG D6 in Andhra coast, two months ahead of schedule. The joint venture, which commissioned the first field R-Cluster in December 2020 after a six-month delay, is planning to onstream the third KG D6 development, MJ by latter half of 2022.

RIL-BP has invested about Rs 40,000 crore for developing three deep-water gas developments in KG D6 -R Cluster, Satellite Cluster and MJ - which together are expected to produce around 30 mmscmd (1 billion cubic feet a day) of natural gas by 2023, expected to meet up to 15 per cent of India's gas demand. RIL-BP is utilising the existing hub infrastructure that it built at the KG D6 block for production from all three fields.

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RIL is the operator of the block with a 66.67 per cent participating interest and BP holds a 33.33 per cent participating interest in the three fields. The gas production from R-Series has been delayed by six months because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related disruptions in the supply chain. However, production from satellite fields started earlier as it had originally been scheduled for mid-2021.

"The satellite field is located about 60 km from the existing onshore terminal at Kakinada on the east coast of India in water depths of up to 1850 meters. The field will produce gas from four reservoirs utilizing a total of five wells and is expected to reach gas production of up to 6 mmscmd. Together, the R Cluster and Satellite Cluster are expected to contribute to about 20 per cent of India's current gas production," the company said in a statement.

Production from RIL's older fields in the KG-D6 block was halted in February 2020. It made 19 gas discoveries in KG-D6.

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