RIL shuts down another gas well in D6 block

Reliance Industries Ltd and its partner, the UK-based BP Plc, have shut a seventh gas well in the D6 block of the Krishna-Godavari Basin in the Bay of Bengal coast late last month due to sand and water ingress, according to reports which the company has so far refused to confirm.

This brings down the number of operating wells to 11 from the original 18. The company now awaits regulatory permission to try and fix the problem.

The well B4 on the main producing fields of Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1&D3) in KG-D6 block was shut down on 29 November "due to high water cut / sanding issues," according to a status report of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons.

The shutting of the seventh well saw output from D1 and D3 fields drop to 19.02 million standard cubic metres per day from about 20 mmscmd a month ago.

Together with 4.25 mmscmd from the MA oil field in the same block, KG-D6 produced 23.27 mmscmd of gas in the week ending 2 December, the DGH status report dated 3 December said.

The steadily declining gas output from the D6 block has thrown the government's power supply augmentation plans out of kilter. It has impacted expansion plans of several power companies, and spurred demand for costly liquefied natural gas imports.