Reliance strikes gas off Orissa coast

Mumbai: Reliance Industries yesterday announced that it had struck gas off the Orissa coast in its NEC-OSN-97/2 block. Initial estimates indicate in-place reserves of four to five trillion cubic feet, Mr Mukesh Ambani, chaiman, Reliance Industries said.

He said the company would make a separate announcement after it had undergone a third-party certification process for determining the size of its reserves. Canadian oil company Niko Resources is 10 per cent partner in this acreage.

The discoveries, which will be named Dhurbhai 9, Dhirubhai 10 and Dhirubhai 11, came after drilling 61 unsuccessful wells, he said. RIL will be investing Rs 2,500 crore on exploration and production over the next 24 to 30 months, he said.

Ambani pointed out that RIL's huge discovery at the Krishna-Godavari basin would yield in-place gas volumes of 14 trillion cubic feet. A development plan for producing 40 million cubic metres per day of gas from the KG basin block by year 2006-07 has been submitted to the government.