Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and BP in December announced the start of production from the R Cluster, ultra-deep-water gas field in block KG D6 off the Kakinada coast. RIL and BP are developing three deepwater gas projects in block KG D6 – R Cluster, Satellites Cluster and MJ – which together are expected to meet 15 per cent of India’s gas demand by 2023. These projects will utilise the existing hub infrastructure in KG D6 block.

RIL is the operator of KG D6 with a 66.67 percent participating interest and BP holds a 33.33 percent participating interest. R Cluster is the first of the three projects to come onstream. The field is located about 60 km from the existing KG D6 Control & Riser Platform (CRP) off the Kakinada coast and comprises a subsea production system tied back to CRP via a subsea pipeline. Located at a water depth of greater than 2,000 meters, it is the deepest offshore gas field in Asia. The field is expected to reach plateau gas production of about 12.9 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) in 2021.