Reliance Industries’ (RIL) shifting of drilling efforts to blocks adjoining the prolific D6 in the Krishna Godavari basinhave started showing results.
On Tuesday the company reported success in a well in the D3 block that lies closer to the Andhra coast — two months after it abandoned its first exploratory well in D9.
“We are encouraged by the results of this well which will certainly further improve the prospectivity of the block,” said Yogeshwar Sharma, chief operating officer of Hardy Oil, RIL’s partner which holds 10% share in the block.
The total prospective gas in D3 is estimated by the duo at 9.5 trillion cubic feet, just short of the 11 trillion ascertained in the two commercialised discoveries in the currently producing D6.
RIL has three blocks in the Krishna Godavari basin — D3, D6 and D9, admeasuring tens of thousands of square kilometres.
Sharma had, two weeks ago, told delegates at the Global Energy Conference that the KG blocks are now at the cusp of a new round of drilling activity.
The first two wells dug in D3 nearly two years ago had found gas, but since then there had been no further news from either D3 or D9.
Sharma also said RIL and Hardy are targeting a “high impact exploration activity” in the KG Basin in the coming year and hope to begin to look at appraisal and timetable for commercialising the discoveries in D3.
RIL will start plans to commercialise and monetise D3 as soon as the proven reserves cross 1 trillion cubic feet.
The company is currently amalgamating discoveries to ensure that they have sufficient volumes to make it commercial and is expected to tie it in with its existing supply line from D6 to the Andhra coast.
According to the minimum work commitment, the company have to dig three more wells in both the blocks. While the only well to be drilled in the D9 turned up dry, all three drilled so far in D3 have yielded gas.
The partners expect to finish the six-well exploratory drilling programme in D3 by the end of 2010.
They, however, said they are still studying the results from the latest well, drilled bythe vessel Deepwater Expedition.
“The potential commerciality of the discovery is being ascertained through more data gathering and analysis... Besides the above discoveries, several other prospects have been mapped at different stratigraphic levels,” the companies said.
RIL has already become the biggest producer of natural gas after starting production from two discoveries in the D6 field.
It has also found extensive gas in the nearby Mahanadi basin. However, the company has been unable to go ahead with the commercialisation of the discovery as the government is yet to approve its development plans submitted two years ago.
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