The Hindu Business Line : Reliance finds more gas off east coast

The announcement of these discoveries was made on Tuesday by Niko Resources, Reliance's 10 per cent partner in both the D-6 and NEC-25 blocks in which the finds have been made.

Reliance's first major discovery was one of 14 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Krishna-Godavari basin in October 2002.

Among the new finds, the exploration discovery well, M-1, is the 11th successful well drilled in the 1.9-million-acre D-6 block, said the statement from Niko.

Estimates are that the well has 155 metres of "net pay," making it one of the thickest net pay gas sections encountered to date in the block. The well flowed 23.7 mmcf per day from a six-metre interval at a depth of 2,750 metres.

In the NEC-25 block, the A2 well, 2.2 km away from the A4 gas discovery well, tested at rates up to 15.8 mmcf per day. This is the fourth consecutive exploration gas discovery in NEC-25, said the statement.

In the D-6 block, all drilling to date has occurred in a 1,800-sq.-km zone that covers less than 20 per cent of the block.

An additional 2,500-sq.-km programme is currently being merged with the original 3D survey, said the statement.

With respect to the NEC-25 block, plans are progressing for fast track gas production, said the Niko announcement.