RIL to kick start natural gas production from MJ field in Oct

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will start natural gas production from MJ field - the third and the last set of discoveries that the firm is developing in the eastern offshore KG-D6 block in the last quarter of 2022 to raise overall output by about two-thirds.

In an investor presentation announcing first quarter earnings, RIL said it has completed its first offshore installation campaign and a second one would commence in November this year. "Drilling and completions of wells (are) underway," it said. "First gas expected by 3Q FY23." Fiscal year 2023 starts in April 2022 and the third quarter would be October-December 2022. RIL and its partner BP plc of the UK plan to use a floating production system at high-sea in the Bay of Bengal to bring to production the deepest gas discovery in the KG-D6 block. The MJ-1 gas find is located about 2,000 metres directly below the Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1 and D3) fields - the first and the largest fields in KG-D6 block. MJ-1 is estimated to hold a minimum of 0.988 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of contingent resources. The field also has oil deposits which would be produced using a floating system, called FPSO. "FPSO and subsea production systems (are) on track," the company said in the presentation.

RIL-BP are developing three deep-water gas developments in block KG-D6 R Cluster, Satellite Cluster and MJ which together are expected to produce around 30 million standard cubic meters per day of natural gas by 2023, meeting up to 15 per cent of India's gas demand.