The Hindu Business Line : Reliance KG Basin to deliver oil first

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New Delhi Jan. 22 Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) plans to first bring oil from its oil and gas fields in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin.

"We are proceeding on the development of the fields and are going to deliver natural gas in 2008. Both oil and gas will be brought in the first half of 2008 but our intention is to bring oil first,'' Mr P.M.S. Prasad, President and CEO, Petroleum Business of RIL, told newspersons here.

The company will start production from the KG-D6 block in 2008 and is targeting to produce an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 barrels of oil in the first half. Asked about reports on the company's plans to spin-off its KG basin fields into a separate company and rope in a strategic partner, Mr Prasad said, ``There are no such ideas. I am not aware of any such developments."

``It is late in the day to say that we don't have technology. It is not even a time to think of a strategic partner. Once a partner comes in, it will look at things ab-initio (afresh) and that will slow down the whole thing (development plan),'' he added.

As per reports, Reliance was looking to spin off its fields in the KG basin into a separate unit and offer strategic stake to a foreign partner such as Chevron Corp to get technical expertise, secure additional funding as exploration costs are on a rise and also extract a value from the assets.

Reliance owns 80 per cent in a block in the KG-D6 in KG basin. The block is estimated to produce up to 80 million standard cubic metres of gas a day at its peak, or more than half of India's demand for natural gas. "We are open to selling crude to anyone," he said.

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