Reliance's brand new floating production system collides, no one injured

Reliance Industries' new floating production system was involved in a minor collision with a barge off the east coast, but no one was injured and project work has not been impacted, the company said

A brand new floating production system of Reliance Industries Ltd was involved in a minor collision with a barge off the east coast, but no one was injured and project work has not been impacted, the company said.

The Ruby floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel destined for the deep-water MJ gas condensate development in the KG-D6 block in the Bay of Bengal, was involved in a collision with an accommodating barge, causing minor damage to the vessel.

"Due to rough weather, the gangway from the accommodation barge Nor Goliath got lifted and made contact with the staircase on the FPSO causing minor damage to the stairs," a company spokesperson said.

 

Promptly, Nor Goliath, the spokesperson said, pulled away along with the gangway. The gangway was secured back on Nor Goliath and inspected.

"Further, there was no personnel injury and there is no impact on the overall project schedule and commissioning," the spokesperson added.

FPSO is a giant ship that not just has machinery to help produce oil and gas lying below the sea surface but also living quarters and work stations. Gangway is a raised platform or walkway providing a passage.

MJ is the third and last of a set of discoveries that Reliance and its partner BP are developing in the eastern offshore block. The two will use a floating production system at the high sea in the Bay of Bengal to bring to production the deepest gas discovery in the KG-D6 block.

FPSO vessel Ruby was built by South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries, with the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation contract awarded in 2019. The double-hulled vessel has a crude production capacity of 60,000 barrels per day and about 12.7 million cubic meters per day of gas.

It sailed from South Korea a few weeks back and was at the anchorage at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, when its stern hit and damaged Nor Goliath's gangway.

Ruby suffered minor damages but Nor Goliath's gangway was damaged. The Gangway will have to be repaired.

Reliance chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani had previously stated that MJ field is likely to be commissioned by the end of this year, helping the KG-D6 block in which it is located increase its "contribution to nearly 30 per cent of India's gas production".

The two partners are spending around USD 5 billion on three separate development projects in the KG-D6 block - R-Cluster, Satellite Cluster, and MJ which together are expected to produce around 30 million standard cubic meters per day of natural gas by 2023.

R-Cluster started production in December 2020 and the Satellite Cluster came onstream in April last year. MJ is expected to come on stream before the end of the year. While the R-Cluster has a plateau gas production of about 12.9 mmscmd, the Satellite Cluster will have a peak output of 6 mmscmd.

Combined gas output from R-Cluster and Satellite Cluster stood at more than 19 MMcmd during AprilJune, according to Reliance.

Reliance has so far made 19 gas discoveries in the KG-D6 block. Of these, D-1 and D-3 -- the largest two -- were brought into production in April 2009, and MA, the only oilfield in the block, was put into production in September 2008.

While the MA field stopped producing in 2019, the output from D-1 and D-3 ceased in February 2020. Other discoveries have either been surrendered or taken away by the government for not meeting timelines for beginning production.

MJ's reservoirs are about 2,000 metres below the D1-D3 gas fields.

Reliance holds a 66.67 per cent operating interest in KG-D6, with BP holding the remaining 33.33 per cent.