It is seen as one of the biggest gas discoveries. The announcement comes after the government in February allowed RIL to drill further. RIL is the operator of KG-D6, with 60 per cent equity. BP has a 30 per cent share and Niko holds the remaining 10 per cent.
The discovery, named D-55, has been notified to the government and the management committee, said the three partners. This discovery is expected to add to the hydrocarbon resources in the KG-D6 block.
According to a PTI report, sources said the resource found might be significantly more than a pre-drill best case gross prospective resource of 819 billion cubic feet of gas and 56 million barrels of liquids for the well.
The exploratory well, KGD6-MJ1, was drilled in a water depth of 1,024 metres - and to a total depth of 4,509 metres - to explore the prospectivity of a reservoir lying over 2,000 metres below the already producing D1-D3 gas fields.
Formation evaluation indicates a gross gas and condensate column in the well of about 155 metres. In the drill stem test, the well flowed 30.6 million standard cubic feet per day (mscf/d) and a liquid rate of 2,121 barrels a day.
“The discovery follows an 18-month drilling time-out and detailed geoscience work that has re-focused our India exploration programme and delivered this early success,” said Mike Daly, executive vice-president exploration,
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