Reliance foresees trouble at Cauvery well
Geologists at Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries fear they might hit an extremely hard crystalline formation at an appraisal well at Cauvery deepwater block CY-PR-DWN-2001/3.
Transocean-owned and operated deepwater drillship Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2 (DD-KG2) spud well CYC-D6 FA West on January 12 (last month) in water depths of 875 metres and has so far drilled the well to 2500 metres of the planned 4525 metres TD. “Drilling has been smooth,” says a Reliance source.
“But if we encounter a hard formation we may terminate the well at a little over 3000 metres. We'll decide next week.
” Reliance believes it can complete well CYC-D6 FA West this month (February) if it does not hit the hard formation. Reliance announced a rich gas and condensate discovery at the first exploration well at this NELP-III block on April 21, 2011.
Reliance might next move DD-KG2 to the D1 and D3 areas of its D6 gasfield, where production is declining.
