Reliance, BP to invest Rs 40k in KG basin

Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries Ltd and BP have announced that they will put in Rs 40,000 crore in KG (Krishna Godavari) D6 gas block. The block, off India’s eastern coast, is jointly owned by the two companies.

In a press conference in New Delhi, Ambani and BP chief executive Bob Dudley said that the new investment is expected to produce 30-35 million cubic metres of gas a day. It would reportedly boost India’s energy security and reduce energy imports substantially.

India is the world’s third-largest oil importer, and the demand is growing.

This is an important step for the British major in India, Dudley said, adding that two companies have the capability to develop major deep-water gas resources offshore India efficiently and economically.

Ambani said that the two companies have agreed on strategic cooperation.

Dudley visited India the last time in January 2015, following which the government revised the natural gas pricing formula.

While RIL owns 60 per cent BP 30 per cent in the gas block in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin, Calgary-based Niko Resources Ltd holds the rest of the equity.