RIL�s Godavri find to peak in four years

Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Reliance Industries Ltd Niko Resources Ltd�s major gas discovery in the Krishna-Godavri basin (Dhirubhai 1 and 3 wells in D6 block) is expected to reach its plateau rate of 80 million metric standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD) in July 2011 and retain the level for six years. The gas production will commence in June 2008 at the level of 27.6 MMSCMD and touch 40 MMSCMD during next two years.

In a presentation to the Energy Coordination Committee under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the estimated capital expenditure has been pegged at $8.836 billion with nearly $5.197 billion in the first phase. The government plans to monitor gas development programmes of ONGC, Reliance Industries Ltd and Gujarat State Petroleum Cor poration in the KG basin.

Reliance had initially proposed an investment of $2.47 billion to produce 40 MMSCMD for seven and a half years from discoveries in the D6 block. The deepwater block KG-DWN-98/3 in the Krishna-Godavari basin, off the eastern coast in the Bay of Bengal, was awarded to RIL and Niko Resources, Calgary in the first round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP-I). RIL as operator holds 90 per cent of the participating interest and Niko the remaining 10 per cent.

The project is the first deepwater development project in India and on commissioning would be among the largest and most complex deepwater gas production system in the world. It is expected to be completed in about six years from the first discovery.