Reliance Industries has reported that natural gas production from its eastern offshore KG-D6 fields has dropped to about 32.66 million standard cubic meters per day.

Gas output from KG-D6 in the week ended May 6 dropped to 32.66 mmscmd from 33.89 mmscmd in April, according to a status report filed by the company with the Oil Ministry.

KG-D6, where water and sand ingress coupled with drop in pressure has led a drastic fall in per-well output, had produced 34.62 mmscmd in the beginning of March.

Production from Dhirubhai-1 and 3, the largest among the 19 oil and gas finds RIL has made in the KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6 block, slipped to 26.51 mmscmd during April 30 to May 6.

Together with 6.15 mmscmd output from MA oilfield in the same block, KG-D6 produced 32.66 mmsmcd during the week ending May 6.

The KG-D6 output has fallen since hitting peak of 61.5 mmscmd in March 2010 as RIL shut wells after water and sand ingress.

During the week under review, a “total of 12 wells were on production and 6 wells (A2, A6, A10, B1, B2 & B13) were kept closed due to high water cut/sanding issues,” the report said.

The output from KG-D6 is short of the 70.39 mmscmd-level (61.88 mmscmd from D1 and D3 and 8.5 mmscmd from the MA field) envisaged as per the field development plan approved in 2006.

While Reliance holds 60 per cent interest in KG-D6, UK’s BP Plc holds 30 per cent and Niko Resources of Canada the remaining 10 per cent.

The report said two out of the six wells on MA field had to be shut due to water loading. The field produced an average of 9,759 barrels per day of oil in the week and 1,759 barrels per day of condensate.

Of the 32.66 mmscmd of production, 14.38 mmscmd was sold to fertiliser plants at government approved rate of $4.20 per million British thermal unit. Another 15.01 mmscmd was sold to power plants and the remaining 3.27 mmscmd was consumed by sectors such as LPG.

RIL projected an output of 32.4 mmscmd during the month.

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