India’s Reliance faces crunch time at KG-D6

摘要

India’s persistent gas shortages look likely to worsen after petroleum secretary GC Chaturvedi admitted that domestic conglomerate Reliance Industries’ (RIL) key KG-D6 gas block will shut down by 2015-16. The KG-D6 field offshore Andhra Pradesh accounts for around a quarter of India’s gas production. But it failed to meet its planned peak of 80mn m3/d by 2012. Output shrank by 35pc on the year in April-September, the company says, and is now just half of its 2010 level of 60mn m3/d. RIL says it remains “committed towards maximising hydrocar- bon opportunities from this block”. But the firm invested only $5.9bn at KG-D6 in 2006-12 compared with an origi- nal plan for $8.8bn that the government approved in 2006.