GSPC submits $1.7 bn devlp plan for KG block

Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), a Gujarat government-owned petroleum and gas company, plans to invest $1.7 billion towards development of its offshore Deendayal Upadhaya gas field in the Krishna Godvari basin off the coast of Andhra Pradesh in the Bay of Bengal.

The company on Thursday submitted a field development plan (FDP) for 12-13 square kilometre area in the KG/OSN/2001/3 block to upstream regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH).

“They will drill 15 wells and expect to start gas production by 2012,” V K Sibal, director general, DGH told Business Standard. 

The plateau (when the field produces maximum) production will be from the seventh year onwards and would last till the fourteenth year. “The wells have indicative reserves of 2 trillion cubic feet of gas,” Sibal said adding that the company has invested around $1 billion in the exploration phase.

FDP for DD-West envisages production of natural gas from 15 production wells in the range of 200 – 300 million metric cubic feet a day (MMSCFD) from a six legged offshore well head platform which will be installed at KG-8 discovery well location.

GSPC  is in the process of tying up with various expert agencies who will assist it in developing this challenging high pressure/high temperature gas reservoir, said a senior GSPC executive.

Sibal said the company was developing the block on unit development scheme basis wherein it would take up small patches for development. He added that the field was a complex one and discovery was in a high temperature zone of 450 degree Fahrenheit at a water depth of 70 metre, reservoir depth of 5000 metre and 12000 PSI pressure.

Deendayal gas field was discovered in June 2005 in KG/OSN/2001/3 block awarded to GSPC consortium under the third round of New Exploration Licensing Policy. The field covers an area of 125 square kilometres (approx) with the discovery being in the Southern Part of KG block which is divided in three fault blocks identified as DD-West, DD-North and DD-East. 

Offshore wellhead platform will be connected to a nearby processing platform and a sub-sea pipeline to the onshore facility which will be developed near Yanam on the east coast of India.