<p>Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has landed upon rich natural gas reserves in the D9 block of Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin. It is the first gas discovery for RIL in the exploration well KG-D9-A2, with an estimated resource potential of the block being close to 5.2 10 trillion cubic feet (tcf), according to London based Hardy Oil and Gas Plc. The discovery has been named ‘Dhirubhai – 54’, for being RIL’s 54th hydrocarbon discovery, and has been notified to the Government of India and Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH).</p>
<p>Following the stupendous discovery in the D6 block of the KG basin, which carries an estimated 11.3 tcf of reserves, the D9 block is the second biggest find in the basin. This block was stipulated to carry around 10 tcf reserves, but following the drying up of the first well drilled in the region previous year, only 5tcf of reserves have been actuated.</p>
<p>RIL and Hardy Oil share partnership interest in the basin, with RIL carrying a majority interest of 90 per cent, rendering the remaining 10 per cent with its minority partner. Hardy Oil reported that the stipulated well was drilled to a depth of 4,881 meters with the objective of exploring the play fairway in the Early and Late Miocene Channel Levee Complex in a water depth of approximately 2,700 meters. The potential commerciality of the project is still being processed, as additional data comes in.</p>
<p>The D9 basin is located towards the east coast of India, spanning across an area of 8,695 sq. km. The discovery of natural gas reserves in D9 basin is the second energy based discovery for Reliance Industries in the year, following the discovery of rich gas reserves in the Cauvery-Palar region. As of now, the D9 venture is set to commence work on its fourth exploration well before the end of the year. Following the success of D6 block, D9 and D3 blocks seem to hold the most potential for Reliance.</p>