BP and Reliance achieve first gas from third deepwater field off India

A consortium consisting of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and BP has brought on stream the third deepwater development in block KG D6 off the east coast of India. The production from this block, at its peak, is expected to account for one-third of the country’s domestic gas production, meeting approximately 15 per cent of India’s demand.

RIL is the operator of the KG D6 block with a 66.67 per cent participating interest while BP holds the remaining 33.33 per cent. According to the oil major, the start of production from the MJ field comes after testing and commissioning activities and the field represents the last of three “major new deepwater developments” this consortium has brought into production on the block.

Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited, remarked: “We continue to be proud of our partnership with BP that combines our expertise in commissioning complex projects under some of the most challenging environments in the last few years. Alongside the other KG D6 fields, the MJ development truly supports the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Energy vision’ laid out by the government of India.”

Furthermore, the start of gas and condensate production from the MJ field follows the start-up of the R-Cluster field in December 2020 and Satellite Cluster in April 2021 while all three developments utilise the existing hub infrastructure for the block. These three fields are expected to produce around 30 million standard cubic metres of gas a day – 1 billion cubic feet a day – when the MJ field reaches peak production.

Bernard Looney, BP’s chief executive, commented: “By safely bringing these new developments on stream, RIL and BP are making an important contribution to meeting India’s demand for secure supplies of gas. Our close strategic partnership with RIL now stretches back over 15 years and we are proud of how it continues to deepen – in gas, retail, aviation fuels and sustainable mobility solutions. Together we are helping to meet India’s growing energy needs, bringing the best of each partner to create real value.” 

Located in water depths of up to 1,200 metres about 30 kilometres from the existing onshore terminal at Gadimoga on the east coast of India, the MJ field, which was discovered in 2013, was sanctioned in 2019. This is a high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT), gas and condensate field, which will produce from eight wells and reach a peak gas production of around 12 MMSCMD gas and 25,000 barrels of condensate per day.

The development of this field encompasses the FPSO Ruby, which was built by Samsung Heavy Industries, to process and separate the condensate, gas, water, and impurities, before sending the gas onshore for sale. The condensate is stored on the FPSO before being offloaded to shuttle tankers for supply to Indian refineries.