BW Communities

RIL D6 Satellites Plan Approved

BW Online Bureau Nov 08, 2014

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[The upstream regulator has cleared Reliance Industries' Rs 8,139.60 crore plan to develop four satellite fields to boost output at its D6 block and sent it for final government approval, an official source said on Wednesday. "The management committee has approved the investment plan of Reliance Industries for its D6 gas block," the source at the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons told Reuters. A Reliance Industries spokesman declined immediate comment. Earlier two newspapers had reported the government had approved the investment by Reliance. The investment plan, which will help boost falling output of the gas field in the Krishna Godavari basin, has been pending with the authorities for two years, the Times of India and the Mint said, citing news agency Press Trust of India. The four satellite fields, off India's east coast, can produce 10 million cubic metres of gas per day by 2016, which will help shore up output from the D6 block that has seen output fall a third since 2010. Gas output had declined as Reliance drilled fewer wells than planned and six wells have ceased to produce due to the entry of sand or water, the government said last month. Reliance drilled 22 wells at D1 and D3 gas fields in the block, four of which are yet to go into production, against 31 producing wells approved for drilling up to March 2012 in the field development plan. But the company last year tied up with BP to further develop the D6 block, and the British firm has said production from the field could rise from 2014 with the help of the satellite fields. Reliance's shares fell 35 per cent in 2011, underperforming the broader index, on investor worries about declining output at the key gas field. Talks To Buy El Paso's E&P Unit Reliance Industries is among companies in talks to buy the exploration and production (E&P)unit of U.S. pipeline company El Paso Corp, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed people with knowledge about the matter. Private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC is among the other companies in talks for the unit, which is estimated to be worth Rs 43,092 crore by analysts at BNP Paribas, it said. U.S. regulators last month made a second request for information about Kinder Morgan Inc's planned Rs 111,720 crore takeover of El Paso, first announced in October, in a deal that will combine the two largest natural gas pipeline companies. As part of the deal, Kinder plans to sell El Paso's E&P assets to help finance the acquisition. The deal is expected to close by the second quarter of 2012. Reliance is yet to decide whether to make a bid for the unit, Bloomberg reported. A Reliance spokesman said the company does not comment on speculation. Officials for Kinder Morgan and El Paso could not be immediately reached. Last month, a senior Reliance executive told Reuters the company is scouting for oil investments in the Americas as it looks to boost the share of its crude production to feed its huge refinery in western India. The company, which the market values at Rs 236,740 crore, already owns stakes in three shale gas ventures in the United States. (Reuters)