PremiumReliance Industries (RIL) and BP Plc which last month began production from the R-Cluster, an ultra-deep-water gas field in the KG D6 block, off the east coast of India, saw its revenue from the oil and gas segment grow in the third quarter of this fiscal.
The R-cluster is currently producing 4.5 million metric standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd).
"Segment Revenues for 3Q FY21 increased by 21.4% quarter on quarter to ₹431 crore primarily due to higher commodity price realization and incremental production from R-Cluster," RIL said in its earnings statement on Friday.
Ebitda margin from the segment clocked 0.9% growth against (-) 54.6% drop in the second quarter of this fiscal. Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) is a measure of a company’s operating performance.
Billed as Asia’s deepest offshore gas field with water depth of more than 2,000 metres, the field was initially expected to start production in June but the covid-19 pandemic delayed those plans.
R Cluster is the first of the three projects to come onstream. Located at a water depth of greater than 2000 meters, it is the deepest offshore gas field in Asia.
The field is expected to reach plateau production of about 12.9 mmscmd in second half of this calendar year.
Production for the period 18th Dec’20 to 31st Dec’20 is 1.6 billion cubic feet (RIL’s share).
"Gas demand has recovered to pre-COVID levels as we pursue the second round of bidding for gas sales," RIL said.
The next project, the Satellite Cluster, is expected to come on stream in 2021, followed by the MJ field in 2022. Peak gas production from the three fields is expected at around 30 mmscmd by 2023, or about 25% of India’s domestic gas output, helping reduce the country’s dependence on imported gas, RIL said.
