Sand, water in D6 wells, RIL says output at nadir

Confirming fears that the reserves and an apparent output from KG D6 field could be much less in the coming few months, Reliance Industries (RIL) on Monday said that its output from the KG D6 blocks has touched an all-time low.

According to agencies, RIL’s Dhirubhai-1 and 3 gas fields in the eastern offshore KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6 block saw output plummet to 28.16 million metric standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) in the week ending March 4, the company said in a status report to the oil ministry on Monday.

In its filing to the oil ministry, RIL said due to sand and water ingress into its wells, the company had to shut down 6 wells, thereby leading to a massive drop in production to 28 mmscmd.
This is in sharp contrast to 61.5 mmscmd rate achieved in March, 2010. Out of the 18 wells drilled, completed and put on production in the D1 and D3 fields, six wells had to be shut or closed due to high water cut/sanding issues due to drop in pressure, the company said in the report.

The output from KG-D6 is short of the 70.39 mmscmd-level envisaged by now as per the field development plan approved in 2006.

This comes close on the heels of an announcement from Niko Resources on March 15 that the company expects the reserve potential of KG basin to be much lower than the earlier estimate.
“Production performance at the D1/D3 fields within the D6 block indicates the need for a revision to the current geological model. While analysis continues, Niko anticipates a drop in its reserves for the D1/D3 fields,” said the company in its website.

That substantiates to some extent what BP expects from the gusher — 1.4 tcf, far lower than street estimates so far.