With development activities in Reliance Industries’ Krishna Godavari D6 block nearing an end, the company has shifted its attention to the nearby KG D9 block. After a two-year delay, the company has started drilling its first exploration well in the block off the Godavari basin in the Bay of Bengal.
“The exploratory well KG-D9-A1 spudded (the very start of drilling on a new well) on August 31, 2009, with the Transocean Rig (deepwater expedition) at a water depth of 2,754 metres. The well will explore the hydrocarbon potential of the Early and Middle Miocene slope fan sands... This is the first exploratory well of the four-well minimum work programme in the block,” UK-based Hardy Oil, which owns 10% of the field, said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.
Out of the 22 wells planned at the KG D6 block, one of India’s biggest hydrocarbon discoveries, RIL has already drilled 18. Sources close to the company said two or three more drilling rigs will be dispatched to the D9 block soon.
Drilling at the D9 block, which is estimated to have 11 trillion cubic feet of gas (as much as D6), was scheduled to begin in 2007, but was put off due to the scarcity of drilling rigs and heavy expenditure at D6.
Hardy said a minimum of four exploratory wells have to be drilled in the block. However interpretation of seismic data has suggested ‘gas in place’ of around 11 trillion cubic feet.
The D9 block, spread over 11,850 square km, is located at a depth of 2,300-3,100 meters under the sea. RIL had only one rig capable of drilling at such depths and had deployed it in KG D6, before the ‘Deepwater Expedition’ came around.
“The purpose of drilling is to find out how much of the gas can be commercially recovered,” a source close to RIL said. “If, for example, there is gas, but the flow rate or pressure is low, it is useless for our purpose,” he pointed out.
In addition to D6 and D9, RIL is also conducting exploration in the adjoining D3 block where it has drilled 3 wells. Results from the D9 well are expected to trickle in in a few months. Data, after interpretation by international experts, is submitted to the office of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons under the ministry of petroleum and natural gas.
RIL has also made significant gas discoveries in the Mahanadi basin and has been waiting for the petroleum ministry’s approval to commence its development work for almost two years.
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