The operator was unable to carry out its committed work programme under the original MWP owing to a global shortage of jack up rigs and other related environmental concerns in the acreage, sources said.
RIL has concluded the exploration well J-1, its fourth exploration well in the KG acreage, in 2008. During the drilling of the well the operator found a classic reservoir with gross hydrocarbon column of around 105 meters in the Miocene section.
The pay zone was later proved through wire-line based technology called reservoir characterization imager (RCI) which helped understand the porosity and permeability heterogeneity of the block formations.
RIL had earlier found gas in its first and second exploration wells, the D-28 and D-37, in the offshore acreage. RIL that owns a 100% stake in the license is committed to drill a total of 12 exploration wells in the NELP-III block.
