As part of its plan to develop four satellite gas fields for $1.529 billion, UK-based energy major BP started drilling a well on the D-19 field, also called Satellite-1 field, along with its partner Reliance Industries.
The field is located around the now producing Dhirubhai-1 and 3 or D1&D3 fields in the Krishna Godavari basin KG-D6 block. This will be the first development well to be drilled since BP came into RIL’s acreage.
BP had in July last year won government nod for investing $7.2 billion in taking 30 per cent interest in 21 oil and gas blocks of RIL including the gas discovery areas of KG-D6 and NEC-25 in Mahanadi basin. But it could not drill a single well till now because the petroleum ministry refused to give approval.
On January 3, the block oversight panel, called the Managing Committee, headed by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, cleared an optimised field development plan for the four satellite gas discoveries (D-2, D-6, D-19 and D-22) in KG-DWN-98/3 (or KG-D6) block.
The approved plan envisaged drilling 8 development gas wells. The development well KG-D6-G2 on the D-19 discovery is part of that plan, sources said.
RIL-BP had lost the last four- month weather window available for drilling in Bay of Bengal as approvals did not come in time. They started spudding the well when the weather window opened this month.
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