RIL, BP invite bids for sale of gas produced from KG D6 block

• The gas produced for KG D6 will be available for sale at the delivery point at Gadimoga near Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, tentatively from 01 February 2021, a notice said

• RIL and BP announced the start of natural gas production from the R Cluster, ultra-deep-water gas field in block KG D6, on December 18

New Delhi: Days after commencing natural gas production, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and UK's BP have invited bids for gas produced from KG D6 basin. The consortium expects to sell gas from the field from February. In a notice released on Wednesday, RIL and BP said, "The gas produced for KG D6 will be available for sale at the delivery point at Gadimoga near Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, tentatively from 01 February 2021." The bidding process will be conducted by CRISIL Risk and Infrastructure Solutions Ltd through an online platform, said the notice.

RIL is the operator of KG D6 with a 66.67 percent participating interest and BP holds a 33.33 percent participating interest.

RIL-BP's KG D6 field started production on Dec 18

Earlier this month, RIL and BP announced the start of natural gas production from the R Cluster, ultra-deep-water gas field in block KG D6 off the east coast of India. RIL and BP are developing three deepwater gas projects in block KG D6 – R Cluster, Satellites Cluster and MJ – which together are expected to meet ~15 percent of India's gas demand by 2023. These projects will utilise the existing hub infrastructure in KG D6 block.

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R Cluster is the first of the three projects to come onstream. The field is located about 60 kilometres from the existing KG D6 Control & Riser Platform (CRP) off the Kakinada coast and comprises a subsea production system tied back to CRP via a subsea pipeline. Located at a water depth of greater than 2,000 metres, it is the deepest offshore gas field in Asia. The field is expected to reach plateau gas production of about 12.9 million standard cubic meters per day (MMSCMD) in 2021.

Satellites Cluster in KG D6 block to come onstream in 2021

The next project, the Satellites Cluster, is expected to come onstream in 2021 followed by the MJ project in 2022. Peak gas production from the three fields is expected to be around 30 mmscmd (1 bcf/d) by 2023 which is expected to be about 25 percent of India's domestic production and will help reduce the country's dependence on imported gas.

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