India's Gujarat State Petroleum Corp's KG Basin Block Holds 14.4 tcf of Gas

Gujarat State Petroleum Corp's (GSPC) KG basin gas block has reserves of 14.4 trillion cubic feet, India’s finance minister said Wednesday.

Arun Jaitley told upper house of the Parliament that GSPC’s KG-OSN-2001/3 block in Bay of Bengal was not 21 tcf but 14.4 tcf as certified by international agency Gafine Cline Associate (GCA), Press Trust of India reported.

Narendra Modi, as chief minister of Gujarat in 2005, had announced the GSPC discovery as holding in place reserves of 21 tcf. The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) has certified Deen Dayal West, the name given to the KG#8 find of 2005, to hold 1.8 tcf of reserves.

Last week Reuters reported that Gujarat State Petroleum Corp is in discussion with Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) to sell stake in the gas block.

The Gujarat state owned GSPC has already invested around $3.6 billion in exploring and building infrastructure around the block but with little success, and now wants ONGC's help on funds and drilling expertise, news agency Reuters reported Monday. Gas was discovered in the block way back in 2005 and production was expected to commence in 2011.

GSPC says it now hopes to start commercial production later this year, with an initial output of 70-80 million cubic feet a day (mcfd).