RIL encounters new gas pool in KG field: sources

Mukesh-AmbaniReliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has sniffed a new gas pool in an exploration well in its flagging natural gas fields in KG-D6 block.

Sources privy to the development revealed that the Mukesh Ambani-led firm encountered natural gas in its MJ-1 exploration well on the Dhirubhai-1 and Dhirubhai-3 gas fields in the KG-D6 block.

The exploration well is being drilled more than 2 kilometers deeper than, and straight beneath the producing Dhirubhai-1 and Dhirubhai-3 fields in the block.

The company drilled the exploration well on the fields to learn about reservoir characteristics.

According to the sources, the pool discovered might be significantly bigger the company's pre-drill best case gross prospective resource of 819 billion cu. ft. of gas and 56 million barrels of oil.

However, the size of the natural gas pool and its commercial viability would only be known after the completion of the drilling process.

The discovery will be of great importance for RIL, which has seen a drastic fall in output from the fields. As per available figures, output from the fields have dropped from nearly 54 million cubic metre per day achieved in March 2010 to around 12 million cubic metre per day in March this year.