"RIL and bp are developing three deepwater gas projects in block KG D6 – R Cluster, Satellites Cluster, and MJ – which together are expected to meet about 15% of India's gas demand by 2023," said both companies in a joint statement.
Closure of D1, D3 gas fields:
In February, the RIL-bp joint venture decided to cede natural gas production from the D1 D3 field in KG D6, India's first deepwater gas field to be put on production in April 2009 and has so far produced an overall 3 trillion cubic feet (TCF) resulting in energy import savings of over $30 billion.
These projects will utilize the existing hub infrastructure in the KG D6 block. RIL is the operator of KG D6 with a 66.67% participating interest, and bp holds a 33.33% participating interest.
Asia's most in-depth offshore gas filed:
R Cluster is the first of the three projects to come onstream. 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 greater than 2000 meters, it is the deepest offshore gas field in Asia. The field is expected to reach plateau gas production of about 12.9 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) in 2021.
Another 3 TCF of gas to be produced:
Both the firms have committed an additional $5 billion (Rs. 35,000 Crores) of investments towards monetizing about 3 TCFe (about 500 Million Barrels of Oil equivalent) reserves from three projects - R cluster, Satellite cluster, and MJ fields.
Key quotes:
Commenting on the development, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited, said, "We are proud of our partnership with bp that combines our expertise in commissioning gas projects expeditiously, under some of the most challenging geographical and weather conditions.
This is a significant milestone in India's energy landscape for a cleaner and greener gas-based economy. Through our deepwater infrastructure in the Krishna Godavari basin, we expect to produce gas and meet the growing clean energy requirements of the nation."
bp Chief Executive Bernard Looney said: "This start-up is another example of the possibility of our partnership with Reliance, bringing the best of both companies to help meet India's rapidly expanding energy needs. Growing India's own production of cleaner-burning gas to meet a significant portion of its energy demand, these three new KG D6 projects will support the country's drive to shape and improve its future energy mix."
To produce a-fourth of India's gas:
The next project, the Satellites Cluster, is expected to come onstream in 2021, followed by the MJ project in 2022.
Peak gas production from the three fields is expected to be around 30 million metric standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) or (1 bcf/d) by 2023, which is expected to be about 25% of India's domestic production and help reduce the country's dependence on imported gas.