Reliance Industries' (RIL) flagging KG-D6 fields have seen natural gas output dropping to less than 35 million standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) after one-third of wells had to be shut due to water and sand ingress.
RIL, in a status report filed with the Oil Ministry, stated that natural gas production from the Dhirubhai-1 and 3 gas fields and the MA oilfield in Block KG-DWN-98/3, or KG-D6, in the Krishna-Godavari Basin of the Bay of Bengal, was 35.77 mmscmd in the week ended February 5.
Sources said the output dipped to 34.5 mmscmd in the subsequent week.
The output during January 30 to February 5 comprised of 29.22 mmscmd from the D1&D3 gas fields and 6.55 mmscmd from the MA oilfield.
The KG-D6 production is lower than 61.5 mmscmd rate achieved in March, 2010, before a drop in pressure in the wells and increased water and sand ingress pulled down per-well gas output.
The report said of the 18 wells drilled, completed and put on production in the D1&D3 fields, six wells -- A2, A6, A10, B1, B2 and B13, were kept closed due to high water cut/sanding issues.
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Sources said till last month 13 wells were producing and a sixth well -- A6 -- was shut recently.
In its projections for next two fiscal, RIL has stated that the KG-D6 output will fall further to 27.60 mmscmd in 2012-13 and to 22.60 mmscmd in 2013-14.
This will be the lowest production level since RIL began production from KG-D6 block in April 2009.
Sources said RIL in its projections has stated that output from D1&D3 in 2012-13 would be 20.20 mmscmd and another 7.40 mmscmd will come from MA oilfield. In the subsequent year, production from D1&D3 would further drop to 14 mmscmd, while MA oilfield is expected to produce 8.60 mmscmd.
The output from KG-D6 is short of the 70.39 mmscmd (61.88 mmscmd from D1&D3 and 8.5 mmscmd from MA field) level envisaged by now as per the field development plan approved in 2006. Production was to touch 80 mmscmd by April, 2012 after all the 31 wells envisaged in the development plan are drilled and brought to production.
RIL has so far drilled 22 wells on Dhirubhai-1 and 3, two of the 18 gas finds in the KG-D6 block that have been brought to production, but only 18 were put-on production. Of these 18, six have ceased due to water/sand ingress.
MA oilfield in the same block had seen one out of the five wells cease due to the same reasons.
RIL is the operator of the 7,645-sq-km D6 block with 60% stake while London-based BP Plc has 30% interest. The remaining is with Niko Resources of Canada.