Reliance-bp start production from MJ field in KG D6 block

MJ field is the last major deepwater development that the RIL-bp consortium was working on in the KG D6 block.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and energy major bp on June 30 announced the commencement of production from the MJ field of KG D6 block in India’s east coast.

MJ field is the last major deepwater development that the RIL-bp consortium was working on in the KG D6 block. The field will produce from eight wells and reach a peak gas production of around 12 MMSCMD (million metric standard cubic meters per day) gas and 25,000 barrels of condensate per day, according to a press release.

Other than the MJ field, gas & condensate production in the KG D6 block had started from the R-Cluster field in December 2020 and Satellite Cluster in April 2021.

The companies said that the three fields collectively are expected to produce around 30 million standard cubic metres of gas a day (or 1 billion cubic feet a day) when MJ field reaches peak production.

The collective production is expected to account for around one third of India’s current domestic gas production and meet approximately 15 percent of India’s demand, the companies added.

This comes as India, which imports around 50 percent of its natural gas requirements, is pushing to increase the share of gas in its energy basket from current 6.2 percent to 15 percent by 2030.

The Indian government is focusing on increasing domestic oil and gas production to reduce the country’s reliance on imports for energy requirements.

bp Chief Executive Bernard Looney said, “By safely bringing these new developments onstream, RIL and bp are making an important contribution to meeting India’s demand for secure supplies of gas.”

The MJ field, which was discovered in 2013 and sanctioned in 2019, is 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. MJ is a high Pressure and high Temperature (HPHT), gas & condensate field.

The development includes a new Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel – the ‘Ruby’ – to process and separate the condensate, gas, water, and impurities, before sending the gas onshore for sale. Condensate is stored on the FPSO before being offloaded to shuttle tankers for supply to Indian refineries.

RIL is the operator of the KG D6 block, with a 66.67 percent participating interest while bp holds 33.33 percent.

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