The Hindu Business Line : RIL unlikely to take stake in K-G basin blocks

THERE was no likelihood of the Reliance group becoming an equity partner in the KG OSN 2001/3 block in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin, awarded to the consortium led by Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), according to Mr Jean Paul Roy, President and CEO, GeoGlobal Resources, Canada, a 10 per cent stake holder in the KG 3 block.

Mr Roy was talking to Business Line here on the eve of the Petrominex exhibition, where he is scheduled to present a paper on why Gujarat — spanning both onshore and offshore basins of Cambay, Saurashtra and Kutch — is tipped to become the Persian Gulf of India in the coming days.

"True, it is not in my interest for Reliance to take an equity stake in the consortium. But then why should Reliance pay a premium and get into our field when they have their hands full with a clutch of exploration blocks of their own? On the other hand, if they were to come in, it would be in their interest to delay our project. Also, they would not be willing to take a minority stake and surely not without operating rights. Ultimately, it may not make much sense for Reliance to pay a premium for our field where gas reserves are yet to be proven," said Mr Roy, who is in the midst of the evaluation of a public limited company which he plans to float in the US in the near future.

With prognosticated reserves of 44 trillion cubic feet(TCF) and conservative estimate of recoverable gas put at 10 TCF, the 1,850 sq km KG 3 block, where Jubilant Enpro, a Bharatiya group company, is the third partner with 10 per cent stake, is set to move on with the 3-D seismic data mapping scheduled for March, before the onset of the monsoon. The commitment of the GSPC-led consortium is that it covers 1,300 sq km of the KG 3 block over the next two-and-half years during which period they dig a minimum of 14 wells. As per the plan, the consortium is planning three kinds of drilling operations including jack-up, semi-submersible and even the land rigs.

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