RIL to start crude production from KG basin next month

Reliance submits dev plan for 8 more KG block discoveries

Reliance Industries has submitted development plan for eight more gas discoveries in its prolific eastern offshore KG-D6 block. "The discoveries are adjacent to the Dhirubhai 1 and 3 gas fields that are currently under development," said Canada's Niko Resources, which is Reliance's junior partner in KG-D6.

While Dhirubhai-1 and 3 discoveries are expected to start production by end September, it is intended that the eight satellite discoveries would be tied back to the Dhirubhai-1 and 3 facilities. Numerous other prospects have been identified in deeper water areas of the block where further upside potential would be evaluated, Niko said. Reliance is investing US $ 5.2 bn in bringing to production Dhirubhai 1 and 3 fields, with initial output pegged at 40 mn standard cubic meters per day that would double in one years time.

Of this, US $ 3.28 bn has already been invested by June 30, it said. "Fourteen of the planned 18 Phase-I wells will be tied in after start-up," it added. Reliance would also start pumping out from the MA oil field in the same block within a months time. "The field is estimated to have a peak oil production rate of 40,000 barrels per day." The company is investing USD 2.234 bn in developing the MA oil fields in the predominantly gas-rich block. Niko has 10 per cent stake in the 7,645 sq kms KG-D6 block.

Reliance is the operator with 90 per cent interest. The block was awarded to Reliance-Niko in India's first international bid round in 1999. "Development of the Dhirubhai 1 and 3 natural gas fields and the MA oil field is substantially complete and exploration is ongoing on this block," Niko said.
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RIL to start crude production from KG basin next month

Hyderabad, Aug. 12 With a FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading) vessel set to stream into Kakinada from Singapore shortly , Reliance Industries Ltd is gearing up to extract crude from its Krishna Godavari basin wells by the second half of September.

This will be the first deepwater well in the country to produce crude. The FPSO managed by Aker of Norway is being built at Jurong Shipyard, Singapore, and is being leased by RIL for a three-year period.

The MA Fields in the D-6 block in the KG basin will produce about 40,000 barrels a day. The crude evacuated through pipeline grid set up will be shipped through tankers to refineries, according to RIL officials.

However, the gas produced from the KG wells will be pumped back into the wells as there is no possibility to store the gas. Meanwhile, the onshore gas processing facility at Gadimoga is nearing completion. “After the FPSO moves to Kakinada shores from Singapore, within a couple of weeks we expect production to commence from these wells. Initially, it could be about 15,000 barrels a day to be gradually ramped up to 40,000 barrels a day,” the official explained.

Asked about the gas production in the KG basin, the official said that most of the installations and pipeline work of 1,400 km from Kakinada to Bharuch had been completed barring small link-ups. The undersea equipment has been procured. It is likely that by the fourth quarter of this year, the gas wells will be ready for production.

Our Mumbai Bureau adds:

Dhirubhai-I, the floating oil production unit chartered by Reliance, has been built by converting a large tanker in Singapore .According to information reaching here from Singapore, the floating unit left Jurong yard last Wednesday and is scheduled to arrive at the eastern coast of India by Friday.

The floating oil unit is on a 10-year charter from the Norwegian company Aker and the initial contract value was $750 million. Aker will also operate and maintain the FPSO under a separate five-year contract.

Once the FPSO is anchored and connected to the oil wells, which is expected to take at least two weeks, oil production from a developed field can commence within a month, said an oil industry expert.Unlike normal tankers, which need dry-docking at least every two years, the FPSO is designed to operate for 10 years without dry-docking.

Dhirubhai-I can process 60,000 barrels of oil and 15 million cu m of gas a day and can store 1.3 million barrels of oil.The 8.86 lakh dwt tanker –S.T.Polar – was originally built in the US. The refitting at the Singapore yard is expected to extend the 25-year-old vessel’s life by 15 years.


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Source: ET,BL,UTVi,BS.