RIL Re-Forays Cauvery Asset

New Delhi: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has re-forayed 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. Once the drilling process is completed, the company will decide on the kind of hydrocarbon testing it would like to undertake in the well. RIL has already drilled about 3,800 metres and mulls to go up to 4,500 metres in the third well. In August, Reliance was unable to finish the hydrocarbon testing in the second well due to technical snags. 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.

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 declared 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. In the first zone as per the initial tests, RIL has witnessed 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.