Indias Bay of Bengal is floating on natural gas. After discoveries in Krishna-Godavari (KG-DWN-98/3 and north east coast (NEC-OSN-97/2),Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has a new gas find further south in Cauvery basin (CY-PR-DWN-2001/3). The first well SA 1 drilled in Cauvery-Palar block showed potential of over 100 million barrels of condensate or light oil and 3 trillion cubic feet of gas,petroleum ministry sources said. According to them,a flow test last month in the presence of officials of upstream quasi-regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons yielded 40 million cubic feet of gas per day and 1200 barrels of light oil (or condensate) per day through a 38/64 inch choke. The deepwater strike was made at a depth of 4,000 metres at water height of 2,000 metres,they said adding that RILs minimum work programme has committed to drill seven more exploratory wells in the block that is spread over 8,600 sq kms. The block was awarded under the Third Round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP). The find opens up a big corridor as the Cauvery-Palar offshore basin is considered a wild cat for being located in new frontier areas. This is a big petroleum play as it opens a new basin south of Krishna-Godavari, said sources. Two wells drilled in PR-DWN-2001/1 (first in 2010 and the second in January 2011) had reported dry. RIL,which signed a partnership with BP recently to provide the British major 30 percent stake in 23 oil and gas PSCs including the KG D6 block,is banking on BPs deepwater exploration expertise for hydrocarbon search. The two are awaiting government permission for the share sale.
