Reliance Industries and its partner Hardy Oil have suspended drilling at an exploratory well in the D3 block at the KG basin. In a statement, Hardy Oil has cited “unresolved mechanical issues associated with the blow out preventer”.
Reliance Industries’ spokesperson refused to comment on the subject. Blow out preventer is a component that stops undesired flow out of oil and gas wells. The failure of blow out preventer (BOP) is being cited as the reason for the catastrophic explosion last month and the subsequent oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, the United States.
Incidentally, the oil rig being used by RIL-Hardy combine, Deepwater Expedition, is owned by Transocean, also the owner of Deepwater Horizon, the drilling ship which exploded in Gulf of Mexico last month.
The D3 block in the Krishna Godavari basin in Andhra Pradesh is one of the more prospective blocks. It is estimated that the block could hold upto six trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The RIL-Hardy combine has made discoveries here so far. An analyst tracking the sector says that oil & gas firms have become more cautious on the safety front after the two recent accidents.
In the first case, a drilling ship being operated by British Petroleum exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.
The aftermath of the disaster has seen a blame game between British Petroleum — which owned the well, Transocean, which owned the ship and Cameron International — the company which supplied the valve that failed.
Later on, Aban Offshore, an Indian drilling firm — lost Aban Pearl — one of its highest value assets, in an accident near Venezuela. There was no loss of life in the second accident.