RIL not striving to boost K-G gas output, hints Reddy

Gas production from the D6 block of the Krishna-Godavari Basin, operated by Reliance Industries Ltd, has declined to a new low of 39.80 million standard cubic metres per day, petroleum minister Jaipal Reddy told the Lok Sabha today.

In a written statement, he said output from the D6 block, off the Andhra Pradesh coast, has declined as RIL drilled fewer wells than planned, and six wells have ceased to produce gas due to the entry of sand or water.

Reliance has drilled 22 wells at D1 and D3 gas fields in the block, four of which are yet to go into production, against 31 producing wells approved for drilling up to March 2012 in the field development plan (FDP), Reddy said.

In an apparent indictment of RIL, Reddy said, "The contractor has neither drilled the remaining nine producing wells nor taken any alternative action such as revision of the FDP for approval of the management committee as per the provision of the production sharing contract.''

Five out of 18 gas producing wells in the two fields have stopped production due to water-loading and sand ingress, Reddy said.

This year, Reliance brought in the expertise of BP to help it on the offshore D6 block, where output is lagging targets, and the British company has said production from the field off India's east coast could rise from 2014.