Reliance Industries, BP Announce First Gas Production From KG-D6 Block; Shares Gain

Shares of Mukesh Ambani-promoted oil-to-telecom conglomerate - Reliance Industries - rose as much as 1.5 per cent on the BSE after the company post market hours on Friday announced first gas production by its joint venture with bp in Krishna Godavari (KG-D6) basin off the east coast of India. "Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and bp announced the start of production from the R Cluster, ultra-deep-water gas field in block KG D6 off the east coast of India," Reliance Industries said in a press release. (Track Reliance Industries share  price here)

"Reliance Industries and bp are developing three deepwater gas projects in block KG D6 - R Cluster, Satellites Cluster and MJ - which together are expected to meet 15 per cent of India's gas demand by 2023," Reliance Industries said.

"R Cluster is the first of the three projects to come onstream. The field is located about 60 kilometers from the existing KG D6 Control & Riser Platform (CRP) off the Kakinada coast and comprises a subsea production system tied back to CRP via a subsea pipeline," Reliance industries added.

"We are proud of our partnership with bp that combines our expertise in commissioning gas projects expeditiously, under some of the most challenging geographical and weather conditions. This is a significant milestone in India's energy landscape, for a cleaner and greener gas-based economy. Through our deep-water infrastructure in the Krishna Godavari basin we expect to produce gas and meet the growing clean energy requirements of the nation," Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said in a statement.

As of 12:30 pm, Reliance Industries shares traded 1 per cent higher at Rs 2,010, outperforming the Sensex which was down 0.2 per cent. Reliance Industries shares have so far this year advanced 34 per cent.