Reliance Industries, BP Start Production From R Cluster Project

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) along with bp (British Petroleum) announced the commencement of production from the R Cluster, an ultra-deep-water gas field in the Krishna Godavari Dhirubhai 6 (KG-D6) block off the east coast of India on Friday, December 18. According to an official statement, Reliance and bp are developing three deepwater gas projects in block KG D6, namely, R Cluster, Satellites Cluster, and MJ, which together are expected to fulfill almost 15 per cent of the country's gas demand by 2023. This will commission the country's first ultra-deepwater gas project. These projects will use the existing hub infrastructure in the KG D6 block.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries is the operator of KG D6 with a 66.67 per cent participating interest, while bp holds a 33.33 per cent participating interest. R Cluster is the first of the three projects to come onstream. The field is located almost 60 kilometers from the existing KG D6 Control and Riser Platform (CRP) off the Kakinada coast and consists of a subsea production system tied back to CRP through a subsea pipeline.

It is the deepest offshore gas field in Asia and is located at a depth greater than 2000 meters. The field is expected to reach the plateau gas production of about 12.9 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) in 2021. The next project, the Satellites Cluster, is expected to be operational in 2021, followed by the MJ project in the year 2022. The peak gas production from all the three fields is expected to be around 30 mmscmd (1 bcf/d) by 2023. This is likely to account for almost 25 per cent of the country's domestic production and will help to reduce India's dependence on imported gas. 

“This is a significant milestone in India's energy landscape, for a cleaner and greener gas-based economy. Through our deep-water infrastructure in the Krishna Godavari basin we expect to produce gas and meet the growing clean energy requirements of the nation,' said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited

“This start-up is another example of the possibility of our partnership with Reliance, bringing the best of both companies to help meet India's rapidly expanding energy needs. Growing India's own production of cleaner-burning gas to meet a significant portion of its energy demand, these three new KG D6 projects will support the country's drive to shape and improve its future energy mix,' said bp Chief Executive Bernard Looney.