The Hindu Business Line : Reliance re-enters Cauvery asset

New Delhi, Nov. 20 Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has re-entered its Cauvery asset, despite suffering a minor setback in the deepwater block. The company has already tested hydrocarbon success in one of the two wells it had drilled in the block.

Sources said the drilling activity in the third well started on October 15 and is expected to be completed in the next few days.

“Once the drilling process is completed, the company will decide on the kind of hydrocarbon testing it would like to undertake in the well,” sources told Business Line. RIL has deployed its rig Actinia to undertake the activity. “This is altogether a separate geological structure than what has been discovered in the block,” he said.

RIL has already drilled about 3,800 metres and plans to go up to 4,500 metres in the third well. In August, Reliance was unable to complete the hydrocarbon testing in the second well due to technical snags. Subsequently, it had shifted the rigs from the NELP-III block, with plans to return to the block CY-DWN-2001/2 (CY-D5) when deepwater rigs were available.

Seismic surveys

Deciding against resuming activity in the abandoned second well, the company, based on the seismic surveys, decided to carve out another area in the block, sources said. Before venturing into the block earlier this year, it had completed the 2D seismic survey of the exploration area. RIL, which is the operator of the CY-D5 block, had announced availability of hydrocarbon reserves in the asset.

In the block, initially, RIL held 90 per cent participating interest, with Hardy Exploration & Production (India) Inc holding the rest. Subsequently, Hardy pulled out and RIL now holds 100 per cent interest. The area of the block is 14,325 sq km.

The find in the first well showed there were two zones. In the first zone as per the initial tests, RIL has found 550 barrels per day of oil and one million cubic ft per day of gas, while in the second it found 31 million cubic ft per day of gas and 1,200 barrels per day of condensate. The company is also looking at resuming activities in its other exploration blocks.