M-1 is the 11th consecutive successful well drilled in D-6 block of Krishna-Godavari basin. |
Reliance Industries has discovered the "thickest net pay gas section" in the D-6 block of the Krishna-Godavari basin off the Andhra Pradesh coast, and made another gas discovery in the NEC 25 block off the east coast. |
Calgary-based Niko Resources, in a press statement issued globally yesterday, said the company was "pleased to announce a new major gas discovery in the D-6 block and another in the NEC-25 block off the east coast of India". |
Although, the company did not elaborate on the reserves, indications were that they would be high. |
Niko has a 10 per cent interest in both the D-6 and NEC-25 blocks, where Reliance holds the remaining 90 per cent equity and is the designated operator. |
The exploratory well, called M-1, in the D-6 block "has approximately 155 metres of net pay, making it one of the thickest net pay gas sections encountered in the D-6 block", the release said. |
It added that the well flowed 23.7 mm cubic feet per day from a six-metre interval at a depth of 2,750 metres. Niko Resources said the estimates were made by Reliance Industries. |
To put the find in perspective, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) produces 32 million standard cubic metres (mmscmd) per day of gas a day from Bassein and 17 mmscmd from Bombay High. |
M-1 is the 11th consecutive successful well drilled in the 1.9 million acre D-6 block. Drilling has been done in the first 1,800-km 2/3D seismic programme, which covers less than 20 per cent of the block. |
An additional 2,500 km 2/3D seismic programme is currently being processed and will be merged with the original 3D survey. |
The D-6 block in the Krishna-Godavari basin is estimated to yield a total in-place gas volume of 14 trillion cubic feet. Initially, eight wells were drilled and named Dhirubhai 1-8, after Dhirubhai Ambani, the former promoter of the Reliance group. |
Reliance has chalked out a plan for producing 40 mmscmd of gas by 2006-2007 from the D-6 block. With a capital expenditure plan of Rs 35,000 crore over a period of five years, the development plan for the D-6 block has already been submitted to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons. |
The company has also discovered gas in the A2 well in the NEC-25 block. "The operator estimates the potential net gas pay to be 40 metres," Niko said in its release, adding that plans for gas production in this block were progressing on a fast track. |
Reliance had announced that it had struck gas off the Orissa coast in the Bay of Bengal on June 24, 2004. |
At that time, Reliance Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani had said: "These discoveries come after earlier operators drilled 61 unsuccessful wells. This, more than the size of the discovery, is a matter of great satisfaction." |
Ambani had pointed out that "the next two years will see Reliance make intensive efforts in oil and gas exploration and production". |