Reliance strikes gas off Orissa coast

Friday, 25 June 2004, 19:30 IST
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MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Ltd., India's largest private sector business conglomerate, said Thursday it had struck four to five trillion cubic feet of gas off the Orissa coast in the Bay of Bengal. "We have made an initial estimate of the potential from seismic and other studies, which indicate an in-place volume of about four to five trillion cubic feet," Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, told a shareholders' meeting. Last year, Reliance had struck oil in an onshore block in Yemen, where it has a twenty-five per cent interest. The share of recoverable oil reserves for Reliance from this block is estimated to be about 50-60 million barrels. "The next two years will see Reliance making very intensive efforts in oil and gas exploration and production," said Ambani. "This will be achieved through acquisition of small and medium sized oil companies and participation in exploration and development projects. Geographically, the regions of focus are Africa, the Middle East, Australia and Latin America." Reliance struck as much as 14 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Krishna-Godavari basin in 2002, India's largest discovery in three decades. The company, which has interests in a wide spectrum of industrial sectors such as petrochemicals, refinery, communications and power, holds the largest exploration acreage amongst private sector companies in India. Reliance became the first Indian private sector company to register over $1 billion in net profit in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2004.
Source: IANS