Reliance, BP To Invest Rs 40,000 Crore More In Offshore Gasfield

BP and India's Reliance Industries Ltd will invest a further Rs. 40,000 crore ($6.2 billion) in their jointly owned KG D6 gas block off India's eastern coast, the heads of the two companies said on Thursday.

BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley, appearing alongside Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani at a news event in New Delhi, said the new investment is expected to produce 30-35 million cubic metres of gas a day, phased over 2020 to 2022.

"This is an important step forward for BP in India. Working closely together, Reliance and BP are now able to develop these major deep-water gas resources offshore India efficiently and economically," Dudley said.

In 2011, Reliance agreed to sell a stake in 23 of its oil and gas blocks to BP for $7.2 billion. But output from the D6 block, expected to contribute up to a quarter of India's gas supply, has been falling since April 2010.

Reliance holds a 60 percent stake in the gas block in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin and BP owns 30 percent, while Calgary-based Niko Resources Ltd holds the rest. Reliance and BP have invested around $1.6 billion to May this year in deep-water exploration and production.

India, the world's third-largest oil importer, has said it will move gradually to a gas-based economy, and its demand is expected to grow rapidly as the country industrialises.

BP and Reliance also said on Thursday that they would look to tap new opportunities in India, including developing "differentiated" fuels, trading carbon emissions and advanced low-carbon energies.