Reliance Industries and BP start gas production from Asia's deepest field

In a major breakthrough to its energy business, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) announced the first production from R-Cluster which is an ultra-deep-water gas field in KG-D6 off the east coast of India. Mukesh Ambani led RIL has been exploring gas off Kakinada coast in Andhra Pradesh with its partner and British multinational, BP.

The two energy giants have been developing three deepwater gas projects in the KG-D6 block including R Cluster, Satellites Cluster, and MJ and the commissioning of the R-Cluster is the first among the three projects. These three projects are likely to meet India's 15% of gas demand by 2023. Notably, RIL is the lead operator with 66.67% participating interest in the KG-D6 block with BP holding 33.33% participating interest.

A milestone in India's energy landscape: Ambani

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of RIL said, "This is a significant milestone in India's energy landscape, for a cleaner and greener gas-based economy."

In a joint statement, RIL and BP said, "R Cluster is the first of the three projects to come on-stream. 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 2000 meters, it is the deepest offshore gas field in Asia." It further added, "The field is expected to reach plateau gas production of about 12.9 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) in 2021."

D1/D3 block ceased production in February

It is to be noted that In the KG-D6 block, RIL's flagship D1/D3 gas field ceased production of gas earlier this year in February after more than ten years since April 2009. After reaching a peak of 61.43 (mmscmd) in March 2010, production from the field began to decline in April 2010. D1/D3 was the first deepwater gas field to be put into production in India.

Considered India's largest natural gas reservoir, the KG Basin is spread over 50,000 square kilometers along the Andhra Pradesh coast in the Krishna and Godavari river basins. The largest gas reserves were identified by Reliance Industries and the unique site is known as Dhirubhai-6 (D6).