RELIANCE Industries has started pumping natural gas from its massive deep-sea field in the Bay of Bengal, which at full throttle will nearly double India’s gas output, the company said today.
Petroleum Secretary RS Pandey told reporters the company was producing 2.5 million standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd) of natural gas yesterday, and output may double in a day.
The company last week signed a sales agreement with fertiliser firms, which have to be given the first priority in gas sales according to a government decision.
Pandey said the first customer in the fertiliser sector would start getting gas supplies from Reliance in four to five days, while the plant farthest from the field would get supplies in 15 days.
Reliance said last month the company would initially produce 10-12 mmscmd and raise it by about 10 mmscmd a month, reaching its peak production of 80 mmscmd by the end of this year.
“At peak level it would amount to 44 per cent of current oil and gas production taken together,” Pandey said.
Reliance has a 90 per cent interest in the block, while Canada’s Niko Resources holds the rest.
Reliance said the exploration block it was awarded in first round of India’s New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) had started production six and a half years after the gas was discovered.
