BP, RIL to Invest $5 bn in D6 Gas Block

BP Plc and Reliance Industries Ltd Tuesday announced plans to invest over $5 billion to reverse a decline in output from India's D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari basin in Bay of Bengal.

The two firms plan to develop four trillion cubic feet of gas resources from the D6 block, BP said in a statement.

At current international liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices, it would cost more than $50 billion to import this volume of gas into India, BP said.

Bob Dudley, BP Group Chief Executive and Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) agreed to accelerate the pace of exploration and development activities as soon as necessary approvals are received.

Mukesh Ambani said: “The BP and RIL partnership is focused on finding more hydrocarbons and addressing the complexities of the geology along the east coast of India. We hope to significantly contribute to India’s domestic production and help the country attain energy security.”

The announcement came as British Prime Minister David Cameron was in New Delhi on the second-day of his official visit.

“We will bring all our expertise in deep water to explore the prolific gas basins in India and BP looks forward to a rewarding and successful exploration programme in the coming years,” Bob Dudley said.

RIL and BP are confident that development of the existing discoveries, together with exploration prospects in KG D6 has the potential to enhance domestic production significantly.