The UK-based energy giant BP and Reliance Industries intend to develop deepwater gas fields already discovered off India, as part of an agreement to expand their partnership.
This would bring online 12 million cubic meters of natural gas per day of new production in India expected from 2020.
The two companies will award contracts to progress development of the ‘R-Series’ deep water gas fields in Block KGD6 off the east coast of India. The R-series project is a dry gas development in water depths of more than 2,000 meters, approximately 70 kilometers offshore.
The R-series fields will be developed as a subsea tieback to the existing control and riser platform off Block KGD6.
This is the first of three planned projects in Block KGD6 that are expected to be developed in an integrated manner, producing from about 3 trillion cubic feet of discovered gas resources.
BP and RIL plan on submitting development plans for two following projects by the end of 2017. Total investment in the three projects, that would bring 30 to 35 million cubic meters of gas per day onstream over 2020-2022, is valued at $6 billion.
India currently consumes over 5 billion cubic feet a day of natural gas and aspires to double gas consumption by 2022.
Gas production from the integrated development is expected to help reduce India’s import dependence and amount to over 10 percent of the country’s projected gas demand in 2022.
In addition, the two companies plan on expanding their existing partnership for strategic cooperation on new opportunities across India’s energy sector.
Under the agreement, the two companies will jointly explore options to develop differentiated fuels, mobility and advanced low carbon energy businesses in India.