"Reliance Secures Government Approval for Investment to Boost KG-D6 Block's Production"

Reliance Industries Ltd has received government approval for additional investments to develop gas reserves in its KG-D6 block in the Bay of Bengal, potentially boosting production by 4 to 5 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd), a company official announced. Currently, Reliance and its partner, bp Plc, produce around 30 mmscmd from the KG-D6 block, accounting for roughly 30 per cent of India's total gas production.

Sanjay Roy, senior vice-president for exploration and production at Reliance Industries Ltd, revealed the approval at an investor call announcing the company's fourth quarter earnings. "One good aspect of this quarter gone by was that we had an incremental development plan approved by the government, which has the potential to deliver incremental production of 4 to 5 million standard cubic meters (per day) in the coming few years, which would augment the production that we have," he said.

Though details of the approved investment were not disclosed, the additional output will augment the current production from the KG-D6 block, where Reliance-bp operates three sets of discoveries: R-Cluster, Satellite Cluster, and MJ oil and gas field. The MJ field, the deepest of the three, was brought into production in May 2023. Earlier, R-Cluster and Satellite Cluster came online in December 2020 and April 2021, respectively.

The KG-D6 block has played a crucial role in increasing domestic gas production in India, which serves a variety of applications from electricity generation and fertilizer production to compressed natural gas (CNG) for vehicles and piped natural gas for cooking. Domestic gas production reached a multi-year high of 99 mmscmd, with KG-D6 contributing significantly to the total. India's total gas demand is around 188 mmscmd, with imports covering the shortfall.

Reliance Industries holds a 66.67 per cent stake in the KG-D6 block, while bp Plc holds the remaining 33.33 per cent. Since 2009, Reliance has made 19 gas discoveries in the KG-D6 block, with D-1 and D-3 being the largest among them. Despite output from these fields ceasing in February 2020 and the MA oilfield stopping production in September 2018, the company has invested around USD 5 billion in three deepwater gas projects-R-Cluster, Satellites Cluster, and MJ.

The MJ field is located approximately 2,000 metres directly below the Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1 and D3) fields and features high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT) conditions. Besides gas, the MJ field is expected to produce 25,000 barrels of condensate per day at its peak. This increased investment and additional production are likely to support India's energy requirements and contribute to greater domestic gas availability.

BS