The Hindu Business Line : `RIL will begin gas output from K-G Basin by 2008'

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is set to begin commercial production of gas from the Krishna-Godavari Basin by June 2008 as scheduled but state-owned Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) would be able to do so not before 2009, the Director-General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), Mr V.K. Sibal, said here on Wednesday.

After meeting the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, and the Minister of State for Energy, Mr Saurabh Patel, in Gandhinagar, he told presspersons here that the K-G Basin is a "goldmine" where gas production could go as high as 100-120 million standard cubic metres per day (mscmd) although initial estimates had suggested the figure to be around 40 mscmd.

The DGH said the K-G Basin was one of the richest gas fields in the world with a "huge potential". India still remains a "heavily under-explored" country in terms of mineral oil and gas exploration but the gas finds in the basin have proved the country's potential.

`Sitting on a goldmine'

About the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, he said despite adverse conditions of temperature and pressure in this gas field, the company went ahead with its exploration. "Once it starts production, GSPC would be sitting on a goldmine," he added.

Mr Sibal said GSPC was the only state-owned company in India to step into an uncharted area like oil and gas exploration wherein the success rate was not more than 25 to 30 per cent.

However, Mr Sibal said the DGH was yet to ratify GSPC's initial assessment of gas find to the tune of 20 trillion cubic ft in the wells it dug in the K-G Basin last year. Soon, the company is going to submit its development plans to dig the K-G 15 well to the DGH, he added.

More Stories on : Outlook | Petroleum | Reliance Industries Ltd | Gujarat

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