RIL, BP tap gas from KG Basin's R-cluster

In a statement, Reliance and its partner company British Petroleum  have announced that the first gas from the R Cluster, ultra-deep-water gas field in block KG D6 off the east coast of India has come out.

The two companies are developing three deepwater gas projects in block KG D6 – R Cluster, Satellites Cluster and MJ that together are expected to meet 15 per cent of India’s gas demand by 2023, the two firms said in a joint statement. These projects will utilise the existing hub infrastructure in the KG D6 block.

The field is expected to reach the maximum gas production of about 12.9 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) some time next year. The next project, the Satellites Cluster, is expected to come on-stream in 2021 followed by the MJ project in 2022.

Peak gas production from the three fields is expected to be around 30 mmscmd (1 billion cubic feet/day) by 2023 which is expected to be about 25 per cent of India’s domestic production and will help reduce the country’s dependence on imported gas, the companies claimed in the statement.

RIL is the operator of KG D6 with a 66.67 per cent participating interest and BP holds a 33.33 per cent. R Cluster is the first of the three projects to come onstream.

The field is located about 60 kilometers from the existing KG D6 Control & Riser Platform (CRP) off the Kakinada coast and comprises a subsea production system tied back to CRP via a subsea pipeline. Located at a water depth of greater than 2,000 meters, it is the deepest offshore gas field in Asia.

 “Through our deep-water infrastructure in the Krishna Godavari basin we expect to produce gas and meet the growing clean energy requirements of the nation,” Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited, said in a statement.

BP chief executive Bernard Looney said, “This start-up is another example of the possibility of our partnership with Reliance, bringing the best of both companies to help meet India’s rapidly expanding energy needs. Growing India’s own production of cleaner-burning gas to meet a significant portion of its energy demand, these three new KG D6 projects will support the country’s drive to shape and improve its future energy mix.”

RIL with a consolidated turnover of Rs.659,205 crore ($87.1 billion) and cash profit of Rs. 71,446 crore ($9.4 billion), and net profit of Rs. 39,880 crore ($5.3 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2020 is India’s largest private sector company. Its returns from the oil and gas segment, however, have been falling. The company has been focussing on consumer centric business of retail and telecom even as it operates two petroleum refineries.

In addition to their gas value chain partnership, BP and RIL earlier this year also completed the formation of their petroleum retail, aviation fuels and mobility alliance.