Directorate General of Hydrocarbon for probe into Reliance Industries Limited's drilling

New Delhi: Upstream regulator DGH has backed the ONGC’s demand for appointment of an international expert to assess if Reliance Industries was drawing out any of its gas in the KG basin.

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) says that at least three wells drilled by the RIL in the eastern offshore KG-D6 block are within a “few 100 meters” of its gas fields and it fears that the two may be sharing the same pool of reservoir.

Since it has not yet begun producing from its side, the ONGC feels that the RIL wells may be pumping out its share of gas.

The Directorate General of Hydrocarbon (DGH) has asked RIL to immediately share data on the gas reservoir on its side of the block as well as production flows with ONGC, sources said.

It also asked the ONGC to share data based on which it had felt that RIL’s wells D6-A5, D6-A9 and D6-B8 in KG-D6 block may be drawing gas from its gas pools called G4-2, G4-3 and D-1.

The DGH letter to the RIL follows the ONGC’s February 11 complaint to the oil ministry saying that the Mukesh Ambani run firm was unwilling to cooperate and was delaying the process of resolving the issue.

“In view of the significance of the issue and the ONGC’s position that there is continuity of discoveries made by it in its Godavari PML and KG-DWN-98/2 block, RIL is reminded and advised to comply with the provisions of contract and fully cooperate with ONGC,” DGH wrote.