Panna-Mukta fields shut down, gas output to resume in day or two

New Delhi, Jun 5 (UNI) Production from the Panna-Mukta fields, a consortium of Reliance Industries, the UK-based BG Group and ONGC, was shut down after an explosion in one of its processing platforms late on Tuesday night.

One person, who was working for a contractor, was killed in the incident, industry sources told UNI.

The sources added that gas output will resume in a day or two, but oil pumping will take longer.

According to estimates, the explosion has caused a cut of 40,000 barrel per day in crude output from the Panna-Mukta fields, off the Mumbai coast.

Reacting to this situation, state-run Indian Oil Corporation, the government nominee to buy crude from Panna-Mukta field, will increase crude imports from spot markets if output does not start in the next three-four days, a company official said.

GAIL official had earlier said the explosion has resulted in gas supply reduction of five million cubic metres a day.

UNI SBA SR KN1908