The petroleum firms have signed a 50-50 joint venture for sourcing and marketing of gas and to create infrastructure for gas transportation.
BP said that the partnership will combine BP’s deepwater exploration and development capabilities with Reliance’s project management and operations expertise.
Future performance payments of up to $1.8bn could be paid based on exploration success that results in development of commercial discoveries.
These payments and the combined investment could amount to $20bn in total, according to the company.
The RIL’s 23 blocks together cover approximately 270,000sq km that will make the partnership India’s largest private sector holder of exploration acreage.
The PSCs currently produce about 1.8 billion cubic feet of gas per day (bcf/d), over 30% of India’s total consumption, and over 40% of India’s total production.
