Reliance Industries (RIL) and BP have sanctioned the development of MJ deep-water gas field, also known as D55, in Block KG D6, offshore the east coast of India.
MJ is the third of three new projects in the Block KG D6 integrated development plan. Its approval follows sanctions for the development of R-Series deep-water gas field in June 2017 and for the Satellites cluster in April 2018.
The three projects are expected to develop a total of around three trillion cu ft of discovered gas resources with a total investment of approximately Rs 35,000 crore (USD five billion).
These projects when fully developed will bring around one billion cu ft a day of new domestic gas on-stream, phased over 2020-22.
The project is in 700-1,100 mtr water depth, with a well depth of 4,200 mtr below mean sea level in a high-temperature and pressure environment. It comprises wells connected to a sub-sea production, with tie-back to a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel to process and separate liquids, and gas which will be exported to the onshore terminal through one of the existing 24 inch trunk pipelines.
The project is expected to commence production in mid-2022.
The first of the three KG D6 projects under development, the R-Series project, is in under execution phase. All six wells have been drilled and with this the first installation campaign, in which a 54 line km, 18 inch/four inch piggyback flow line was installed in 1,920 mtr water depth setting a new world record for deep-water pipelay installation, has been completed.
The first gas from the project is on-schedule and expected by mid-2020. Moreover, the second project, the development of the Satellites cluster, is also on track with all major contracts awarded to deliver first gas by mid-2021.
Since the formation of this partnership between RIL and BP in 2011, both the companies have invested over Rs 13,000 crore (USD two billion) in deep-water exploration and production till 11 June 2019.
