KG-D6 gas output may fall to all-time lows, RIL shares fall

Shares of Reliance Industries, India's biggest company by market capitalization, traded lower in a buoyant market on reports that gas production of the KG-D6 fields may fall to all-time low of about 27 million cubic meters a day by April/May.

RIL stocks traded 0.67% lower at Rs 843.20 at 1042 hours on the Nifty index. The 50-stock Nifty index was up 1.42% at 5,492.70.

Water and sand ingress has resulted in falling output from the KG-D6 fields. The output from KG-D6 is short of the 70.39 mmcmd (61.88 mmcmd from D1&D3 and 8.5 mmcmd from MA field) level envisaged by now as per the field development plan approved in 2006. Production was to touch 80 mmcmd by April, 2012 after all the 31 wells envisaged in the development plan are drilled and brought to production.

RIL has so far drilled 22 wells on Dhirubhai-1 and 3, two of the 18 gas finds in the KG-D6 block that have been brought to production, but only 18 were put-on production. Of these 18, five have ceased due to water/sand ingress. MA oilfield in the same block had seen one out of the five wells cease due to the same reasons.

RIL is the operator of the 7,645-sq-km D6 block with 60% stake while London-based BP plc. has 30% interest. The remaining is with Niko Resources of Canada.

(with PTI inputs)

Tags: BP, gas production, KG D6, Niko, Reliance Industries, RIL