Reliance In Kg Baisn

By Author: Mike Smith
Total Articles: 103
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There is no doubt about the fact that the Krishna-Godavari basin (KG basin) is hydrocarbon-fertile. Since only about 1/3rd of the total potential for exploration wells has been drilled so far, the basin certainly holds far more gas in its womb than has been discovered so far.

In September 2009, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) said that the gas output from only the fields managed Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) could be almost 4 times the levels committed by the company so far.

Currently, RIL has committed 80 million metric standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) and its current production level is about 36 mmscmd. Hence, if the DGH's calculations are accurate, RIL's output would be about 300 mmscmd - almost quadruple!

The mammoth implication of these figures lies in its oil and gas equivalence. Totaling about 2 million barrels of oil per day, it wholly covers India's current consumption of oil. Ironically, most of this oil is imported by the country. However, the nation's gas consumption is over and above this expected output.

Yet, if both DGH and RIL confirm this production potential, ...
... it would mark the most significant energy development India has ever seen!

In September 2007, India's largest private sector company, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) announced an oil discovery in the deepwater block KG-DWN-98/1 (KG-D4) located in the Krishna-Godavari basin (KG basin). This block was awarded to RIL, which holds 100% participating interest in it, under NELP-I and spans an area of 8100 sq kms.

The find, named ‘Dhirubhai - 36', was the premier oil discovery in the deep-water basin of the area. The well was located in a water depth of 565 meters and was drilled to a target depth of 3595 meters. During the Drill Stem Testing (DST), the well flowed 596 barrels of oil per day.

The famous KG-DWN-98/l (KG-D6) block, where RIL, Reliance Group made the world's largest gas discovery in 2005, spans 8,100 sq. kms. of the Krishna-Godavari basin (KG basin). It lies in the Bay of Bengal on India's east coast.

The first three discoveries (Dhirubhai-1, Dhirubhai-2 and Dhirubhai-3) have expected gas reserves of 8 tcf.

In March 2003, the exploration team discovered Dhirubhai-4, with in-place gas volumes of 1,700 bn standard cubic feet.

In February 2006, RIL encountered the thickest hydrocarbon column so far in its MA-2 well. This column reached a depth of about 3.6 km and penetrated a gross hydrocarbon column of 194m consisting of 170 m of gas and 24 m of oil.

Initial rate of production from the MA field is about 5,000 barrels per day (bpd) and is expected to reach its peak rate of 40,000 bpd by about mid-2010. D1 and D3 are expected to reach 2.8 bcfd within the first year of operation, although there is flexibility to raise this to 4.2bcfd.

Several facts and details about the KG-D6 project of the Reliance Group under the head of an amalgamated Reliance Industries Limited and Reliance Petroleum Limited; which is the root cause of the RIL RNRL gas dispute, currently being battled in the courts.