Reliance, BP Start Up Gas Field Off India
Reliance Industries (RIL) and UK major BP have started production from R Cluster, an ultra-deep-water gas field in block KG D6 off the east coast of India, RIL said on December 18 in a statement.
RIL and BP are developing three deepwater gas projects at KG D6 – R Cluster, Satellites Cluster and MJ – which together are expected to meet about 15% of India’s gas demand by 2023. These projects will utilise the existing hub infrastructure in KG D6 block, RIL said. R Cluster is the first of the three to come on stream. RIL operates KG D6 with a 66.7% interest while BP holds 33.3%.
R Cluster is located about 60 km from the existing KG D6 control and riser platform off the Kakinada coast and comprises a subsea production system tied back to the platform via a subsea pipeline. Located at a water depth of greater than 2 km, it is the deepest offshore gas field in Asia. The field is expected to reach plateau gas production of about 12.9mn m3/day in 2021.
The next project, Satellites Cluster, is expected to come on stream in 2021 followed by the MJ project in 2022. Peak gas production from the three fields is expected to be around 30mn m3/d by 2023, according to RIL.