Reliance Industries and bp Plc have announced the commencement of production from the MJ field, following testing and commissioning activities.

The MJ field represents the last of three major new deepwater developments the RIL-bp consortium have brought into production in block KG D6 off the east coast of India, RIL said in an exchange filing.

The company said the start of gas and condensate production from the MJ field followed the start-up of the R-Cluster field in December 2020 and Satellite Cluster in April 2021. “All three developments utilise the existing hub infrastructure for the block,” it said.

Together, the three fields are expected to produce around 30 million standard cubic metres of gas a day or 1 billion cubic feet a day, when MJ field reached peak production. “This is expected to account for around one third of India’s current domestic gas production and meet approximately 15 per cent of India’s demand.”

The MJ Field, discovered in 2013 and sanctioned in 2019, is located in water depths of up to 1,200 metres about 30 km from the existing onshore terminal at Gadimoga on the east coast of India.

It is a high pressure and high temperature, gas and condensate field. The field will produce from eight wells and reach a peak gas production of around 12 MMSCMD gas and 25,000 barrels of condensate per day.

RIL is the operator of the KG D6 block with a 66.67 per cent participating interest and bp holds a 33.33 per cent participating interest.