Reliance Industries and BP Plc will together invest Rs 35,000 crore for bringing to production three sets of natural gas fields in the Krishna Godavari basin block in the Bay of Bengal, Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said on Monday.
The three projects will help reverse the falling gas output from what was once the biggest gas-producing block in the country. In July, the two partners had announced investment sanction for development of their deepest natural gas discovery in the KG-D6 block.
"With an expected peak production of one billion cubic feet per day, equivalent to nearly 30 per cent of India's current indigenous gas production, the joint venture will emerge as a major contributor to India's energy security," said Ambani while speaking at the group's 42nd annual general meeting.
With world-class deep-water infrastructure in the east coast of India, the joint venture is uniquely positioned to monetise over three trillion cubic feet of discovered resources in the KG D6 block, he said adding the projects to develop these gas-fields are among the most complex being executed anywhere in the world.
Ambani said the natural gas business will soon regain its pride of place in Reliance's value-creation strategy. With Reliance de-emphasising its shale gas business in the United States, the company is currently focused only on India.
"In our coal bed methane blocks, we are focusing on augmenting production. The joint venture with BP will play a major role as a producer of natural gas," he said.