<p>Reliance Industries has reported natural gas production from its eastern offshore KG-D6 fields dropping to less than 34 million standard cubic meters a day.
Gas output from KG-D6 in the week ended April 1 dropped to 33.89 mmscmd from 34.09 mmscmd in the previous week, 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 begging 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 27.52 mmscmd during March 26 and April 1. The twin fields had produced 27.64 mmscmd during March 19-25 and 28.16 mmscmd in the week ending March 4.
Together with 6.37 mmscmd output from MA oilfield in the same block, KG-D6 produced 33.89 mmsmcd during the week ending April 1.
The KG-D6 output has fallen since hitting peak of 61.5 mmscmd in March 2010 as RIL shut wells after wells on water and sand ingress.
During the week under review, "total 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 by now as per the field development plan approved in 2006.
While Reliance holds 60% interest in KG-D6, UK's BP Plc holds 30% and Niko Resources of Canada the remaining 10%.
The report said one out of the six well on MA field had to be shut due to water loading. The field produced an average of 11,071 barrels per day of oil in the week and 1,627 barrels per day of condensate.
Of the 33.89 mmscmd of production, 12.71 mmscmd was sold to fertiliser plants at government approved rate of $4.20 per million British thermal unit. Another 18.10 mmscmd was sold to power plants and the remaining 3.08 mmscmd was consumed sectors such as LPG.
RIL projected an output of 33.7 mmscmd during the month.
