RIL-BP Plan Single Test for Three Gas Finds

Reliance Industries and UK's BP have proposed to a do a single confirmation test on three natural gas discoveries in KG-D6 block that have so far not recognised as commercial finds by the India’s Oil Ministry, Press Trust of India has reported.

The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), the technical arm of the ministry, has since February 2010 not recognised the D-29, 30 and 31 as discoveries as RIL had not performed its prescribed tests to confirm the finds.

PTI citing sources said RIL-BP on October 8 proposed to a do a single Drill-Stem Test (DST) on the three finds to establish them as commercially viable finds.

The three finds are part of the cluster that is called the R-Series in the eastern offshore KG-D6 block. RIL believes D-29, 30 and 31 together with the largest discovery in cluster, D-34 hold gross in-place reserves of 2.207 trillion cubic feet and the four could together produce a peak output of up to 20 mmscmd.

A block oversight committee headed by DGH, however, disassociated D-29, 30 and 31 and approved only D-34 with 1.267 tcf of reserves. D-34 alone can produce 14.68 mmscmd of gas from 11 wells for eight years on an investment of $2.338 billion.