Reliance Industries Ltd.

Reliance Industries' (RIL's) centerpiece KG-D6 field’s natural gas production off the East Coast has declined to a one-year low of less than 42 million standard cubic meters per day  (mmscmd ) against 61.5 mmscmd level achieved in March last year and the production plan of over 70 mmscmd for 2011-12.

According to a production report filed by the RIL with the Oil Ministry, Dhirubhai-1 (D1) and 3 gas fields and the MA oilfield in the KG-DWN-98/3, or KG-D6, block in the Bay of Bengal produced about 41.68 mmscmd of gas in the week ending October 30. The D1 and D3, fields produced 34.71 mmscmd and the remaining 6.97 mmscmd came from the MA oilfield during the week under review.

In phase-I of D1 and D3 field development, out of the 22 wells planned, 18 wells have been drilled and completed so far but of these, 14 wells were put on production, while four wells were kept closed due to high water cut and sanding issues. RIL had projected an output of 41.50 mmscmd of gas in the first week of November. The company started natural gas production from the KG-D6 fields in April 1, 2009.